PANAJI
Three days into Goa’s full-scale AI-powered traffic enforcement, the number of e-challans being generated has begun to climb, but transport officials said the figures remain a fraction of the violations detected during the system’s trial phase.
The AI-powered traffic surveillance system, which began issuing challans for all notified offences from August 1, recorded 23 violations on the first day, followed by 116 on August 2 (weekend) and 224 on Monday.
While the numbers increased each day, officials said they are nowhere close to the violations captured during the awareness and grace period in June, when the cameras had detected nearly 52,000 offences in a single day without issuing penalties. The numbers dropped, though not satisfactorily, to 23,255 violations on July 15 when the implementation began.
"The number of challans is gradually increasing, but the violations are still significantly lower than what we recorded in June-July. We will, however, continue to study and analyse the data over the coming days while ensuring motorists maintain traffic discipline,” a senior official told The Goan.
The department said the trend suggests motorists have become more cautious after months of public awareness campaigns and repeated warnings that AI-generated challans would be enforced from August 1.
Officials also pointed to a noticeable behavioural shift among vehicles entering Goa from other states/UTs.
“Earlier, non-Goan vehicles generally showed lower compliance with traffic rules. We are now seeing them adhere to the regulations as well,” the official said.
The first phase of the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) covers 26 locations across Goa, where AI-enabled cameras automatically detect a range of traffic violations, including use of mobile phones while driving, riding without helmets or seat belts, overspeeding, dangerous overtaking, wrong-side driving, illegal parking and stopping, failure to give way to ambulances and fire service vehicles, carrying excess pillion riders, transporting passengers in goods vehicles, and displaying fancy or unauthorised registration plates.
Officials said the automated system is being backed by on-ground enforcement, with traffic personnel continuing manual checks, particularly against motorists who tamper with or conceal their registration plates to evade detection.
The Transport Department said it will continue monitoring the data in the coming weeks to assess compliance trends and determine whether the initial improvement in road discipline is sustained.
