The Supreme Council of Traffic at its sixth session in the current calendar year (started March 21) ratified standardization of traffic research in cities and the ways to allocate revenue accrued from traffic fines.
The annual income from traffic tickets amounts to approximately $600 million. As per the law, 36 percent of the revenue needs to be allocated to municipalities and village management councils. Currently however, they receive $220 million, council secretary Mahdi Yadi Hamedani said, reports ISNA.
Further, the revenue does not reach the municipalities “in time creating a major problem,” he said. The meeting also discussed methods for reducing delays in financial disbursements.
Hamedani announced that the income from traffic penalties would be handed out within three month to the civic bodies in the cities and villages from where the collections have been made; the money must be spent with an aim to increase traffic security and reduce traffic accidents. The traffic police and office of the vice-presidency for Strategic Planning and Supervision in provinces will jointly collaborate on the issue, he said.
Responsibility
“Municipalities need to be held responsible on how the revenue from traffic fines is distributed. The vice-presidency will supervise the process by which the funds are handed over to municipalities and village councils. The ministry of interior will safeguard the transparency of the process,” he noted. The traffic police are also responsible for submitting the figures on the various fines levied, categorized under city and village headings, to the authorities in charge.
Another act ratified by the supreme council was related to the standardization of research in the field of city traffic management. Accordingly, cities with a population over 200,000 are required to carry out research in the field of traffic engineering. Consultant engineers will conduct the necessary research to organize transportation and traffic in cities, and submit the list of research areas which are in need of further investigation to the municipalities, provincial management councils, and the interior ministry.
Measures
The municipalities of the provincial capital cities are required to take necessary measures to introduce transportation and traffic deputies within their institutional authority. Other cities with a population above 200,000 are required to set up bodies specifically in charge of transportation and traffic.
Hamedani added that municipalities “must recruit highly skilled individuals in the field of traffic management and refrain from imposing their own subjective ideas.”
Another issue was the organization of repair services. Legally setting up repair service centers, issuing work permits, and monitoring them is carried out by the interior ministry. Further discussion on the matter was postponed.
