XN000022-1979-03-27 — Page 3

TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1979

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 655 COLOUR TELEVISION SETS, 380 VIDEO CASSETTE RECORDERS AND 3,000 VIDEO CASSETTE TAPES WILL BE REQUIRED FOR THE NEXT ACADEMIC YEAR. THE TOTAL COST IS ABOUT $3.3 MILLION.

AT PRESENT THERE ARE MORE THAN 700 PRIMARY SCHOOLS USING EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION, WITH AN AUDIENCE OF OVER 340,000 PRIMARY 3 TO 6 STUDENTS.

EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS STARTED IN SEPTEMBER 1971, AND WAS INITIALLY GEARED TO PRIMARY 3 STUDENTS IN BASIC SUBJECTS SUCH AS CHINESE LANGUAGE, ENGLISH LANGUAGE, MATHEMATICS AND SOCIAL STUDIES.

THE SERVICE WAS EXTENDED TO COVER PRIMARY 4, 5 AND 6 BY 1974, AND TO FORMS 1 TO 3 WITH THE ADDITION OF SCIENCE SUBJECT BY 1978.

ALL EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION PROGRAMMES HAVE BEEN PRODUCED IN COLOUR SINCE 1976.

EXPANSION OF AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM

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THE AREA TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEM, NOW OPERATING IN WEST KOWLOON, IS TO BE EXPANDED TO COVER EAST KOWLOON.

THIS WAS DISCLOSED TODAY (TUESDAY) BY MR. K.H. LEE, SENIOR ENGINEER OF THE TRAFFIC CONTROL AND SURVEILLANCE UNIT OF THE HIGHWAYS OFFICE, PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, AT THE ROTARY CLUB OF KOWLOON EAST LUNCHEON MEETING.

MR. LEE SAID THE DECISION TO EXPAND THE SYSTEM FOLLOWED AN EVALUATION STUDY CARRIED OUT EARLY LAST YEAR ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE FIRST COMPUTERISED TRAFFIC CONTROL SCHEME.

THE FINDINGS INDICATED THAT, AMONG OTHER BENEFITS, THE SCHEME HAD RESULTED IN A 30 PER CENT REDUCTION IN JOURNEY TIME, A 52 PER CENT REDUCTION IN VEHICLE STOPPED TIME AND A 42 PER CENT INCREASE IN THE SPEED OF VEHICLES.

STUDIES CARRIED OUT ON SIMILAR SYSTEMS IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD SHOWED A REDUCTION IN GENERAL CONGESTION, IN THE NUMBER OF ACCIDENTS, IN FUEL CONSUMPTION AND IN POLLUTION, BOTH IN RESPECT OF EXHAUST FUMES AND NOISE.

MR. LEE SAID THAT UNDER THE EXPANSION PLAN, THE SYSTEM WOULD CONTROL OVER 200 SETS OF TRAFFIC LIGHT SIGNALS IN KOWLOON, COMPARED WITH THE EXISTING 114 SETS.

MR. LEE POINTED OUT THAT THE COMPUTER CONTROL SYSTEM WOULD NOT COMPLETELY CURE CONGESTION AS IT WOULD ONLY ENSURE THAT TRAFFIC SIGNALS WERE WELL CONTROLLED, INDIRECTLY PERMITTING THE OPTIMUM UTILISATION OF THE ROAD SPACE AVAILABLE.

HE HOPED THAT ROAD USERS WOULD PLAY THE IR PART IN MINIMISING OTHER CAUSES OF CONGESTION.

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