The National Freeway Bureau yesterday said that it is soon to use data gathered through the electronic toll collection (ETC) system to help it forecast traffic on freeway sections prone to accidents and to enforce road maintenance work more efficiently.
Bureau Deputy Director-General Wu Mu-fu (吳木富) said that eTags, a device that allows drivers to pay their toll fees when driving on freeways, are now installed in more than 6 million vehicles nationwide, accounting for about 80 percent of all vehicles.
More than 14 million transactions are recorded by ETC gantries each day, he added.
Wu said that data analysis would enable the bureau to better understand the driving habits of freeway users and the types of traffic violations they commit.
“We would also look at weather information, the layout of routes and traffic reports. By combining such data, we would be able to forecast more accurately when and where traffic accidents might occur,” he said.
The National Highway Police Bureau often attributes the cause of an accident to a single factor, Wu said, adding that accidents could happen due to multiple reasons, including a vehicle’s condition, driving habits of freeway users and other external factors.
Identifying potential risk factors would help law enforcement to take preventative measures to reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents, he said.
As an example, Wu said that if certain freeway sections are found to have a high rate of collisions on rainy days, the highway police would be able to warn drivers in advance before they drive through such sections.
Police could increase patrols in such sections to lower the probability of accidents, he added.
Wu said that the ETC gantries record the number of vehicles that pass such checkpoints, as well as the time and traffic lanes cars are in, adding that data analysis would enable the bureau to assess traffic volume in each section as well as the percentage of large motor vehicles at different times of the day.
“This information would let us know the road sections that are more frequently used than others, and our road maintenance staff could begin work on road surfaces in such sections after inspection,” he said.
Drivers would also be able to upload information on freeway surfaces through the bureau’s mobile application, Wu said, adding that the bureau is considering allowing people who share information via the app a discount on toll fees.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
RSS