ITSHK Newsletter Issue 03 March 2001

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Inauguration Ceremony 11 October 2000, Hong Kong

A day of memory is our inauguration ceremony attended by about a hundred members and guests. We were extremely pleased that representatives from ITS America, ITS China, ITS Canada, VERTIS and ITSUK, were all able to come along to sign the joint declaration.

As a formal part of the Inauguration Ceremony, Ir John Sze, our president, was installed by our Honorary Advisor, Ir Dr Hon-Kwan Cheng (photo on the left), following Dr Cheng's encouraging speech to the local ITS society. The Asia-Pacific Electronics Symposium (APES) Banquet afterwards ended the day of celebration.

The Second Intelligent Transport System Technologies Forum 12 October 2000, Hong Kong

Ribbon cutting ceremony at the ITS Technologies Forum. (from left) Representative from Xinhua Agency, Mr C S Li (Trade Development Council), Ir Dr Raymond Ho (Legislative Councillor), Ir Dr John Luk (HKIE President), Mr Nicholas Ng (Secretary for Transport), Ir Prof Victor Li (HKIE Electronics Division Chairman), Mr Robert Footman (Commissioner for Transport), Mr Anthony Wong (Director - General Telecommunication and Telecommunications Authority) and Ir John Sze (President of ITSHK).

Mr Nicholas Ng's, Secretary for Transport, opening speech officiated the opening of the second Intelligent Transport Technologies Forum. The capability of ITS was echoed in Mr Robert Cone (ITSUK), Mr Dennis Foderbert (ITS America), Mr Joseph Lam (ITS Canada), Mr Joseph Lam (ITS Canada) and Mr Katsuya Watanabe's (VERTIS) speeches. As evidenced by the afternoon speakers on local radio systems, GIS and navigation systems development, Hong Kong is moving along to better apply technology to improve the efficiency of our transport system.

We thank all speakers and sponsors in making this event such a success and we look forward to seeing you again in the coming International Symposium on Intelligent Transport Systems and Navigation Technologies this October.

7^th ITS World Congress 6-9 November 2000, Turin, Italy report from Ir Dr Alex Chan

At the request of Haruko Ide, International Affairs of VERTIS Office, I was nominated as the representative of ITSHK to attend the Congress and also acted as the moderator of a scientific session.

No more than an hour and a half from both Milan's city centre and its airport, Maplensa, is Turin. The Lingotto Congress Centre (where the Congress was held) sits between the railway depot and the FIAT Headquarters and has a testing track of 500m long, which is perhaps not surprising, as it used to be the first FIAT Headquarters back in time.

The Congress was well attended by 3000 delegates from over 50 countries, with 800 from Japan alone. During the Congress, more than 15 rooms were deployed simultaneously for different types of sessions with seating capacities varying from 50 to 1000. I was the moderator for the session on image processing techniques, in which one of the speakers was from the Hong Kong University. The session was filled with 50 delegates. And many of our overseas counterparts were already aware of the inauguration of ITS-HK in October 2000.

For more details of the Turin ITS World Congress, check out www.torino2000.itscongress.org. One last word, don't miss the cafes in Turin.

More photos are being uploaded, stay tuned.

Special Features

How it Begins –  An Overview of ITS in Hong Kong (Part 1) Ir Toni Zen

- Part 2 Highway and Urban Traffic Management
- Part 3 Demand Management and Institutional Arrangement

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), if defined as application of advanced technology in transport systems, probably started from as long as the invention of time. In 1977, the computerised area traffic control system was installed in Hong Kong1. However, it was not until October 1999, the HKSAR Government, for the first time, explicitly identified "the better use of ITS" as one of the five focuses in it's A Transport Strategy for the Future, Hong Kong Moving Ahead.

This article attempts to review the ITS initiatives in Hong Kong so far. In particular, development in the following areas will be depicted:

• traffic information such as the Traffic Management and Information Centre (TMIC) and Transport Information System (TIS);
• traffic management including the Traffic Control and Surveillance System (TCSS) on various highways and the ATC system;
• demand management using Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) and smart cards.

Finally, institutional arrangement will be briefly discussed.

Variable speed limit sign and lane control signals on Tsing Ma. The Tsing Ma Control Area traffic system marks the first comprehensive TCSS design in Hong Kong.

The main focus of Hong Kong ITS development has been on traffic management through TCSS on the strategic road network including major highways and all road tunnels, as well as ATC on urban roads. Various ITS studies have been initiated by the government in the past three years and are discussed below.

More apparent to the general public, however, are the public transport operators' traffic information systems. The 5 franchised bus and 2 railway corporations are providing more and more displays to attract customers. In addition, three of the bus operators have carried out trials on GPS and are looking into providing bus route information through mobile phones together with the mobile phone operators.

The private sector, on the other hand, has been focusing on advancement in communication systems, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with applications in fleet management.

Traffic Information

CCTV image captured from the Government website. Online 24-hour images on the Strategic Road network are uploaded every 2 minutes.

Currently, highway congestion information is disseminated through broadcasting companies and the government through radios, televisions and the internet. Closed-circuit television (CCTV) images provided by the Transport Department (TD) of the HKSAR are shown through the two television corporations during the morning peak. They are also uploaded on the internet 24 hours a day at 2-minute intervals. The Variable Message Signs (VMS) on the highway network also assist in providing limited traffic information although their coverage is less than 10% on the Strategic Road Network (SRN).

To allow more information on the road network be collected and disseminated, a central Traffic Management and Information Centre (TMIC) was proposed to put traffic surveillance and management, incident management and provision of traveller information under one umbrella. It will also form a hub that enables closer communication among different traffic control centres including the Regional Command and Co-ordination Centre (RCCC) of the Hong Kong Police (HKP), the Area Traffic Control Centre and Emergency Traffic Coordination Centre (ETCC) of TD, the control control centres at the eleven tunnels and other control areas including the Tsing Ma Control Area (TMCA). The preliminary project feasibility study was due for completion early this year and is scheduled for commission in 2006. The centre will make use of the infrastructure developed in the Transport Information System (TIS), another project initiated by TD, for the collection, processing and disseminating of real-time information to the motorists.

Completed in March 2000, the TIS feasibility study evaluated the TIS technologies available and how they may be integrated to form a modern information system in Hong Kong. The proposed TIS will employ GIS and internet technology to enhance the collection, processing and dissemination of transport information among Government Departments, transport operators and the public. For example, integrated public transport information such as bus routes and schedules to assist passengers in trip planning will be provided through in-car systems or mobile phones. The system is scheduled for commission in 2003. (end of Part I)

1. Interesting Fact
The concept of ITS evolved in the United States when the first actuated traffic signal controller was installed in Baltimore, Maryland on 28 February 1928. At that installation, vehicles from the side street activated the green signal for them by sounding their horn. The sound of the horn was registered by an acoustical device, which transmitted a signal to the traffic controller indicating that a vehicle had approached from the side street. The information was summarised and at the appropriate time the green light was terminated on the main street and illuminated on the side street.

To Part 2

HK$3.3b on ITS in the next decade: The Transport Advisory Committee, following the ITS StrategyReview by TD, has recommended government investment in four major areas in the next decade: $64 million in Transport Information System, $610 million in Area Traffic Control, $2.2 billion in Traffic Control and Surveillance System and $210 million on the Traffic Management and Information Centre. (more information?)

Effectiveness of count-down for drivers and pedestrians was being investigated (December 2000).

News Update (with courtesy of HKIE-YMC)

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