Industry insights
Designing traffic signals to survive theft and outages
Source: TopAuto · originally published
Signal reliability is increasingly a question of physical protection and resilience, not just the signal head.
What was reported
TopAuto reported in July 2026 that Johannesburg has identified at least 400 non-working signalised intersections, while Cape Town is piloting buried concrete chambers that enclose signal wiring, with vibration sensors and battery backup.
What we think matters
- Protect what thieves target. Cable and cabinet protection should be part of the design, not an afterthought.
- Alert early. Sensors that report tampering can turn a failure into a response.
- Keep running through outages. Battery backup limits the effect of power interruptions.
- Measure results. Pilots are valuable only if outage and repair data are tracked.
Resilient installation and maintenance is where long-term signal performance is won.
Referenced report: TopAuto. This article is TraffiTek’s own commentary; please read the original report for full detail.