FRIDAY, APRIL 22, 1977
+HOWEVER,+ SAID MR. STEAD, +BECAUSE THIS IS A TECHNIQUE NEW TO HONG KONG, BEFORE INITIATING ANY MAJOR EXPANSION OF THE PRESENT CONTROL AREA WE'VE DECIDED TO UNDERTAKE AN EVALUATION EXERCISE TO DETERMINE THE BENEFITS OF THIS SYSTEM IN WEST KOWLOON.
*THIS WILL PROBABLY TAKE A YEAR OR SO TO COMPLETE AND WE HOPE THEN TO BE IN A POSITION TO DECIDE WHETHER THE SYSTEM SHOULD BE EXTENDED AND INDEED WHETHER OTHER SIMILAR SYSTEMS SHOULD BE INSTALLED ELSEWHERE IN THE TERRITORY, HE SAID.
ONE ADDITION THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN AGREED, WAS THE INSTALLATION OF 10 CLOSED CIRCUIT TELEVISION CAMERAS THROUGHOUT WEST KOWLOON WHICH WOULD ENABLE THE SYSTEM OPERATOR TO SEE EXACTLY WHAT WAS HAPPENING AT CRITICAL POINTS, HE SAID.
THESE CAMERAS SHOULD BE IN OPERATION IN ABOUT TWO YEARS.
MR. STEAD SAID THAT WHILE NO SIGNIFICANT RESULTS COULD BE EXPECTED OVERNIGHT, HE WAS CONFIDENT THAT THE SYSTEM WOULD IN THE LONG RUN BRING ABOUT VAST IMPROVEMENTS IN WEST KOWLOON.
BASED ON EVALUATIONS CARRIED OUT ELSEWHERE, HE EXPECTED THE SYSTEM TO CUT TRAVELLING TIME IN THE AREA BY BETWEEN 10 AND 15 PER CENT REDUCE QUEUES AT TRAFFIC SIGNALS, REDUCE THE NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS IMPROVE BUS JOURNEY TIMES- CUT JOURNEY TIMES FOR FIRE ENGINES- ENABLE QUICKER REPAIR OF FAULTY EQUIPMENT- AND REDUCE CONGESTION CAUSED BY ROADWORKS.
IN HIS ADDRESS MARKING THE OPENING OF THE COMPUTER CONTROL SYSTEM, MR. JONES SAID ONE OF ITS IMPORTANT FEATURES WAS THE GREAT FLEXIBILITY IT PROVIDED TO INTRODUCE VARIOUS TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES IN THE FURTHERANCE OF AN OVERALL TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORT POLICY.
+THIS FLEXIBILITY IN RESPONDING TO VARIOUS POLICY REQUIRE- MENTS IS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS WHY THESE SYSTEMS ARE BEING INTRODUCED MORE AND MORE IN CONGESTED URBAN AREAS, HE SAID.
IN AREAS LIKE WEST KOWLOON, WHERE TRAFFIC LEVELS WERE ALREADY HEAVY, THERE WAS LITTLE CHANCE OF MAJOR ROAD IMPROVEMENTS FULLY ALLEVIATING THE BUILD UP OF TRAFFIC, EVEN WITH EXPENSIVE DEVELOPMENTS LIKE THE WEST KOWLOON CORRIDOR, HE SAID,
+SO, IN THE FUTURE, SOME ADDITIONAL DEGREE OF RESTRAINT MAY BE NECESSARY IF THE ROAD SYSTEM IS NOT TO BECOME UNDULY CLOGGED, EVEN WHEN THE MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY IS IN OPERATION.
+AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL IS ONE MEANS BY WHICH THIS CAN BE EFFECTED BY, FOR INSTANCE, USING THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS AT THE EDGE OF THE CONGESTED AREA TO CONTROL THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC INTO IT AT A LEVEL WHICH THE ROADS IN THE AREA CAN STAND, HE SAID.
ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THE SYSTEM'S FLEXIBILITY WAS THAT IT COULD BE USED TO DIVERT TRAFFIC FROM THE MORE CONGESTED ROADS.
/REFERRING
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