Taiwan has successfully exported its electronic toll collection (ETC) service to Thailand, helping to improve traffic flow on an expressway there, Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co (FETC) said yesterday.
The Taipei-based firm secured the contract to install its ETC system on expressways in Thailand through its subsidiary FETC International Thailand Co.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council on Tuesday gave the subsidiary’s artificial intelligence (AI)-based vehicle license recognition system the Overseas Taiwanese Business Excellence Award-Gold Award.
Photo courtesy of Far Eastern Electronic Toll Collection Co
FETC International Thailand is the only smart transportation software developer to win the award.
The license recognition system functions adaptively in different weather conditions and can process images taken from a broad range of angles, FETC said in a statement.
Its plate recognition rate is 98.22 percent, it said.
The technology increased traffic flow on Thailand’s M9 expressway 1.8-fold, it said.
FETC International Thailand executive director Kenny Chen (陳聲鏗) said that it secured two contracts in Thailand.
One is to build and maintain the ETC system on the M6 and M81 expressways, and the other is to upgrade the manual toll collection system on the M9 expressway to a new M-Flow system, Chen said.
Since February 2022, more than 660,000 drivers in registered vehicles have paid tolls on the M9 using the M-Flow system, he said.
The average driving speed on the M9 had increased 180 percent, while traffic flow on each standard lane was up by 43 percent, easing congestion leading up to the toll booths, he said.
The M6 and M81 expressways are to be completed by next year and 2026 respectively, Chen said.
Twenty-two of 28 ETC gantries have been installed on the two expressways on schedule, he said, adding that the company is closely monitoring opportunities to build ETCs on other expressways in the nation.
Earlier this month, the Expressway Authority of Thailand invited FETC International Thailand to participate in the Fifth International Conference on Highway Engineering in Bangkok, making it the only Taiwanese company to participate in the conference.
The company was also invited to host a Smart Mobility seminar to share Taiwan’s experience in using the ETC system.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
RSS