Majority of DBKL's traffic cameras faulty

A RM366 million project to monitor traffic in Kuala Lumpur is hampered by the fact that more than half of the cameras involved are not working, according to the Auditor-General's Report 2011.

To monitor traffic, the system employed 255 closed-circuit television cameras (CCTV) and another series of cameras known as the automatic incident detection system (AID), involving 728 units.

Based on the information received from these cameras, Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will then broadcast traffic information through electronic message boards (VMS) and its call centre services.

However, the audit found that between January 2009 and August 2011, 51 percent to 56 percent of the CCTV units were not functional while 60 percent to 83.9 percent of the AID units were in similar condition.

During the same time period, between 27.1 percent to 67.9 percent of the 140 VMS units were faulty.

Figures for faulty equipment varies every year as maintenance work, valued at RM16.21 million for the stated time period, are conducted by private contractors.

The audit found that the level of faulty equipment was "tidak memuaskan (not satisfactory)" and warned that functionality of the camera equipment will affect that efficiency of the monitoring system, known formally as Integrated Transport Information System (Itis).

DBKL had replied to the auditor-general's department, stating that the cameras employed for Itis were beyond its shelf life, frequently damaged and there was difficulty in finding replacement parts.

The equipments was also prone to vandalism and theft.

Most calls from radio stations

The Itis project was conceived by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) in 1999 and carried out by the Finance Ministry in 2000.  It was later handed over to DBKL in 2006.

Information sourced from the cameras and the automatic vehicle location system (AVLS) - involving 1,600 GPS units installed on taxis - would then be gathered by the transport management centre (TMC).

The TMC's duty is to collect traffic information and disseminate traffic information through the VMS or its call centre.

The audit team was satisfied with the performance of the call centre and the VMS, when it is working.

However, a survey of 150 road users found that most people don't even know the existence of Itis nor the call centre hotline. Of the 29.4 percent of respondents who did use Itis related services, slightly above half were satisfied.

Between January 2009 and August 2011, according to the audit, most of the 51,432 calls to the call centre were from radio stations. An exact figure was not provided.