Traditional cities grow over time and the concept of Smart City has been spread all over the world with the advancement of technology.

Today, cities in Metro Manila are trying to step up big to transform a Traditional City into a Smart one by implementing No Contact Apprehension Program (NCAP) to reduce the number of traffic enforcers needed to patrol the road and to minimize close contact between them and motorists.

Here is a CurrentPH exclusive interview with Atty. Terry Redon, Convenor of Infrawatch PH, who talks about the relevance of the evolution of traffic management technologies in Metro Manila, and its impact on the economy of the Philippines.

The No Contact Apprehension Program is a network of traffic cameras across the city where the vehicle plate number of an erring motorist is captured by the system camera and generates a Notice of Violation (NOV) which is similar to a ticket violation issued by a traffic enforcer. The NOV is then sent to the owner of the vehicle based on LTO registration along with the instructions of how to address the said violation.

The system is fool-proof. Through a laser-guided camera, the system immediately detects violators of the city’s traffic ordinances, such as beating the red light, yellow box violations, illegal parking, illegal cutting trips made by public utility vehicles and others.

Information about the violation is then electronically sent to the city’s main traffic centre which processes the violation. A digitally enhanced traffic citation ticket alongside a clear digital evidence of the violation is then sent to the owner of the vehicle. Ownership is determined by the one who personally possesses the car registration issued by the Land Transportation Office or LTO.