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The Tai Tam Road (Dam Section) was constructed more than a century ago and is part of the thoroughfare connecting Chai Wan and Stanley. Because of its width of only 5 meters, congestion problems often occur when larger vehicles with the width of 2.5 meters or above use the road section. As the dam is a declared monument, widening the road section is not possible. Thus, the Smart Traffic Control System (STCS) based on video analytics (VA) technology was developed and piloted in 2018 through the collaboration between Transport Department and CUHK project team, which had pioneered a VA-based Trolley Monitoring System for Hong Kong International Airport in an LSCM R&D project. The STCS is being further developed via the collaboration between Transport Department and LSCM. The system, the first of its kind in the city, has been deployed in Tai Tam Road (Dam Section) to ease the congestion problems.
The STCS has 8 sets of traffic detectors installed within 400 meters from the Dam Section of either side of the scenic but congestion-prone road. Each traffic detector turns video content into real-time traffic data by detecting, tracking, and counting vehicles passing through the road. The STCS then uses the data from all the 8 detectors to compute the length of vehicle queues on the road from both sides of the Dam Section and adjust the duration of the green traffic light signals to reduce overall delays in real time. For instance, when the system identifies that the queue is longer than 200 meters on one side and less than 200 meters on the other side, it allocates an extra 165 seconds for the green traffic light signal. After the queue is cleared, the red traffic light signal will be shown on both sides for 45 seconds so that all vehicles being driven along the Dam Section can be cleared.
The system has been in commission since August 2018. According to the latest figures, it has been twice as effective in terms of time-saving in comparison with traditional traffic lights. Based on the records from August 25 to end of November 2018, the traffic queues in Tai Tam Road did not exceed 400 meters at peak hours. With the traditional traffic lights, it took around 400 seconds for the drivers to queue up and pass through the Dam Section, while it took only around 145 seconds with the STCS in use.
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