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Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) technology played an important role in pursuit of the Government's policy objectives of maintaining a safe and reliable transport system, the Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works (Transport), Mr Joshua Law, said in his speech at the opening ceremony of the 8th Asia-Pacific ITS Forum and Exhibition this (July 10) morning.
"In formulating our transport policy, our vision is to maximise the mobility of people and goods in this city through the provision of the world's best transport system, which is efficient, safe, reliable, user-friendly and environmentally friendly," Mr Law said.
In maximising the mobility of people and goods, the use of modern technology, particularly information technology, ITS, would help maintain a congestion-free traffic network, enhance road safety, strengthen incident management, improve delivery of transport services and minimise hazards to the environment, he said.
Mr Law underpinned the importance of ITS in handling incident management at the forum.
"Hong Kong's busy and compact road network makes handling of emergencies with traffic impact highly challenging. Rapid response is of paramount importance in reducing the build-up of a gridlock, especially when unforeseen incidents occur on major inter-connected routes within short intervals.
"In handling traffic emergencies, we have, therefore, improved facilities and introduced new features in the Transport Department's Emergency Transport Coordination Centre.
"We are now using digital 'incident maps' to collate information from different sources to assess the severity and spread of congestion. We have also put in place a web-based incident management communication system to enhance communication and coordination among relevant Government departments.
"Furthermore, we have improved the design of the Transport Department's website and commissioned a PDA version of the site to make it easier for the public to check the latest traffic conditions and special traffic news," Mr Law said.
He told the delegates that these improved features had proven to be effective in providing a speedy response to traffic incidents not only during emergencies, but also major events like the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation that was successfully held in Hong Kong in December last year.
The use of ITS to relieve congestion also proved to be effective. Digital journey time indicators are installed at major trunk roads on Hong Kong Island to give motorists an informed choice on which cross-harbour tunnel to use based on the latest traffic situation.
The speed of cross-harbour traffic had, in general, improved by 4%, Mr Law said.
Concluding his speech, Mr Law appealed to the delegates to work together in realising the goal of building and deploying a more intelligent transport system.
Over 300 delegates and 30 exhibitors from various countries participated in the forum to exchange views on the development and the use of ITS. The theme of the forum was "Sustainable ITS in Environment and Logistics".
Ends/Monday, July 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:03
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