Chennai to use AI for road condition surveys

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) will launch a project to assess the condition of roads and footpaths in the city using artificial intelligence (AI). This project will focus on 419 kilometers of bus routes and 100 kilometers of footpaths. The surveys will take place twice a year, before and after the monsoon season. They will begin in March and continue until December 2025. The GCC plans to process the collected data in May 2025 and January 2026, with results expected by mid-2025. To carry out the surveys, the GCC will use smartphones and high-definition cameras. These tools will capture images and videos of the roads and footpaths. The data will include GPS coordinates and will be organized on a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform. This system will help officials view road conditions digitally. It will identify areas needing maintenance based on problems like potholes and cracks. The data collected will be integrated into a central system that tracks 64 different road features, such as streetlights and traffic signals. Additionally, the system will have a special section for footpath data to make analysis easier. If there is a problem, like a broken streetlight near a school, the system will report it. The aim is to address these issues before they are raised by the public. Machine learning will also help analyze the data, allowing the system to identify problems automatically. This project is part of GCC's efforts to improve road maintenance and pedestrian infrastructure in Chennai.