R

andom and uncoordinated traffic light systems in the city have been blamed for worsening traffic gridlock in the city, an expert from the University of Indonesia said Thursday.

"The current random system creates more disruptions because it fails to take into account crucial factors," research manager from the Computer Sciences Faculty, Wisnu Jatmiko, told The Jakarta Post during an expo at the Jakarta Convention Center.

Wisnu said the current periodic change of traffic lights should take the number and speed of vehicles into account.

Wisnu also said that traffic flow was disrupted by other traffic lights located at nearby crossroads.

"The city does not apply standard mathematical models to control the function of traffic lights," he said.

Researchers from the university have initiated a mathematical model to solve traffic problems in the city.

The research also involves city police from the Traffic Management Center (TMC) and Nagoya University in Japan.

Under the proposed system, all traffic lights at crossroad junctions will respond to the changing color of other traffic lights, making all traffic lights change color simultaneously.

Ferry, a research student involved in the development of the mathematics-based project, said that when a traffic light color at a crossroad was green, other traffic lights on the same route would also turn green, instead of red, to avoid long lines of traffic.

The project, initiated in 2008, will take around four years to complete.