The National Freeway Bureau (NFB) said yesterday that new technology would help it control traffic over the Lunar New Year holiday, when about 6 million people are expected to use the nation’s major freeways.
Sitting in front of a giant Graphic Display System (GDS) comprised of 24 67-inch televisions at the Taishan Control Center in New Taipei City (新北市), Traffic Management Division Director Kang Jhy-fu (康志福) said the images and information flow can help him monitor real-time traffic conditions nationwide.
“Lunar New Year is always the most challenging time for the control center,” Kang said. “My colleagues and I usually spend New Year’s Eve here and have our family reunions by telephone.”
According to Lee Gang, chief of the communications section, the system not only receives real-time road condition data from about 4,000 speed monitors installed along the freeways, but also interprets the information automatically.
“We leave the data analysis to the computers, which frees manpower to deal with unexpected situations,” Lee said.
The system has also made communication with the -Directorate-General of Highways, local governments and even civilians more efficient through the improved exchange of information, Lee said.
Road conditions reported by callers to the Police Radio Station, for example, can be collected by the system and then made available through it to motorists or other agencies monitoring the roadways.
Kang said the new system has also enabled the creation this year of a new service that will offer instant traffic updates via cellphone messaging for users of National Freeway No. 5, which connects Taipei to Yilan County.
The hotline 0911-510-353 will automatically send a real-time traffic update to anybody who sends a blank message to the system.
Even with the new technology, Kang expected his crew to be busy.
“Staffers at the Taishan Control Center will work around the clock in shifts throughout the six-day holiday,” he said, although he was upbeat about this year’s traffic conditions.
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