Singapore ITS eyed to solve traffic woes
January 25, 2017
Could Singapore's Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) e soon implemented in Cebu? It could be time for Cebu to dvance its traffic system technologically to solve its ever worsening traffic woes.
A Singaporean team recently conducted a presentation n ITS in Cebu and in Manila, which has been proposed to he Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Glenn Soco, chair of the Infrastructure Development Committee (IDC) of the Regional Development Council, told The FREEMAN the ITS presentation in Cebu was done uring a special meeting of the IDC last January 18.
"It (The ITS) seeks to address traffic congestion by mplementing systems to increase efficiency and regulation. Basically, what you see in Singapore in terms of traffic systems s the same that [is proposed] to happen here," said Soco, who is also president of the Mandaue Chamber of Commerce nd Industry.
He said the Singaporean team is proposing to implement he ITS under the emergency powers sought by President Duterte to solve the worsening traffic problem in Manila, Cebu and other key cities.
He noted the IDC already submitted a position paper to he House Committee on Transportation concerning the mergency powers, where Cebu should be included.
According to the website of Singapore's Land Transport Authority, ITS is at the heart of what keeps city’s roads and unnel systems safe.
"In land-scarce Singapore, ITS’ sophisticated traffic and ontrol systems maximise road network efficiency capacity s well as monitor and manage traffic flow," LTA said, noting he ITS infrastructure spans over 164 km of expressways and oad tunnel systems in the city-state.
According to Siemens AG, a German manufacturing and lectronics company, Singapore's ITS "incorporates a range f 'smart' transportation technologies, including one of the world’s first Electronic Road Pricing Systems, real-time traffic nformation delivered through GPS-enabled taxis, and a highly ntegrated public transportation system."
"These intelligent solutions allow Singapore to enjoy ne of the lowest congestion rates anywhere in the world for city its size," Siemens said.
Siemens said Singapore has implemented a sophisticated TS, which uses data collection and ITS solutions to keep oad traffic running safely and smoothly.
The ITS acts in concert with a number of other transport nitiatives: free public transportation in pre-morning peak ours, a vehicle quota system, a congestion charge, and an xtensive public transport system. As part of ITS, the city as pioneered a variety of transport technologies, including ne of the world’s first Electronic Road Pricing systems. The ERP acts as a de facto congestion charge. The ERP uses a hort-range radio communication system to deduct charges rom smart cards inserted in all vehicles, and charges varies ccording to traffic flows and the time of day," it said.
Other ITS elements include an expressway monitoring nd advisory system, alerting motorists to traffic accidents n major roads; a GPS system installed on city taxis, which monitors and reports on traffic conditions around the city; nd a parking policy in which the government determines the minimum parking provision and empowers car park operators o determine charges based on demand, Siemens also noted.
"Information from the systems feeds into the ITS Operations Control Centre, which consolidates the data and rovides real-time traffic information to the public," it said.
While developing ITS, Siemens said the Singapore overnment convened public and private stakeholders to iscuss Singapore’s many issues with land transport policy nd to formulate the Land Transport Master Plan. —