Lahore AI traffic signal rollout stalls on Rs580m funding gap

The Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency (TEPA) has asked the Punjab government for more than Rs580 million to complete the installation of AI-based vehicle video detection traffic signals across Lahore, TechJuice reported, after the scheme received only Rs10 million in the current fiscal year.

According to the report, the TEPA chief engineer sent a summary to the Punjab Housing Department requesting the release of the funds. The project was approved at a cost of more than Rs590 million and its pilot phase has already been completed.

The same summary states that about 30 percent of the total work, including the pilot, is done. TEPA has installed modern pelican signals at several locations in the city, among them Adda Plot and Jati Umra Chowk.

The remaining sites are to be equipped with signals operating under the automated vehicle video detection system, which uses cameras to read traffic flow rather than fixed timing cycles.

TEPA has urged the provincial government to release the full amount within the current fiscal year, arguing that this would allow the project to be completed on time and would improve traffic movement in the city through AI-enabled signals.

The figures leave a wide gap between what the agency says it needs and what it has received so far. Of a project costing more than Rs590 million, Rs10 million has been provided this year, and TEPA is seeking over Rs580 million to close out the remaining work.

TechJuice reported the funding request and the details of the summary. The amounts, the stage of work and the locations of the installed signals were not independently confirmed by Skardu Times, and no Punjab government official was quoted in the report responding to the request.

Lahore's intersections are among the most congested in the country, and the provincial government has been under pressure to improve traffic management in the city. Whether the remaining signals are installed this fiscal year depends on the finance and housing departments clearing the release TEPA has asked for.