XN000022-1982-03-15 — Page 6

MONDAY, MARCH 15, 1982

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TRANSPORT DOCUMENTATION COMPUTERISED

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THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT'S VEHICLE DOCUMENTATION AND LICENSING OPERATIONS BECAME FULLY COMPUTERISED THIS (MONDAY) MORNING WITH THE INAUGURATION OF THE FINAL STAGE OF THE VEHICLE AND LICENSING INTEGRATED DATA (VALID) SYSTEM.

WITH THE COMPLETION OF THE SYSTEM, ALL VEHICLE REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS AND OTHER LICENCES WILL BE PRODUCED BY COMPUTER INCLUDING HIRE CAR PERMITS AND TEMPORARY DRIVING LICENCES.

SWITCHING ON THE LAST PHASE OF VALID IN THE MURRAY ROAD LICENSING OFFICE, THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRANSPORT, MR ALAN ARMSTRONG-WRIGHT SAID THE DEPARTMENT'S THREE LICENSING OFFICES WOULD SHARE A SINGLE COMPUTER MASTER FILE CONTAINING FULL INFORMATION CONCERNING DRIVERS AND THEIR VEHICLES, THUS ELIMINATING THE NEED OF CROSS CHECKING.

SINCE THE VALID II SYSTEM WAS INTRODUCED IN JUNE 1980 THERE HAD BEEN A 30 PER CENT INCREASE IN TRANSACTIONS CONCERNING VEHICLE AND DRIVING LICENCES AND A NUMBER OF ADDITIONAL FUNCTIONS ADDED, TO PROVIDE A BETTER SERVICE. THIS HAD BEEN DONE WITH MINIMAL INCREASE IN STAFF RESOURCES, BECAUSE OF THE USE OF THE COMPUTER.

MEANWHILE THE SENIOR EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE LICENSING OFFICE AT MURRAY ROAD, MR SIMON SIT, SAID VALID WOULD ALSO MINIMISE HUMAN ERRORS IN TRANSCRIPTION AND DETER FORGERIES AND OTHER UNAUTHORIZED ALTERATION OF VEHICLE PARTICULARS.

ONE OF THE MAJOR INNOVATIONS IS THE RANDOMISED+ ALLOCATION OF VEHICLE REGISTRATION MARKS BY THE COMPUTER INSTEAD OF MANUALLY AS AT PRESENT. LUCKY NUMBERS, HOWEVER, WOULD STILL BE AUCTIONED AS AT PRESENT.

AT PRESENT. THERE ARE 57 COMPUTER TERMINALS INSTALLED AT THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT'S THREE LICENSING OFFICES 31 ON HỒNG KÔNG ISLAND, 22 IN KOWLOON AND FOUR IN KWUN TONG.

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OTHER FACILITIES THE COMPUTER SYSTEM CAN PROVIDE ARE:

* A BASIC ON-LINE REALTIME SYSTEM TO HANDLE

VEHICLE REGISTRATION AND LICENSING FUNCTIONS;

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AUTOMATIC CHECKS ON OUTSTANDING COURT ORDERS DUE TO MOVING OR PARKING OFFENCES DURING VEHICLE RELICENSING OR TRANSFER;

AN ENQUIRY AND UPDATE. SYSTEM ON WANTED AND MISSING/STOLEN VEHICLES FOR THE POLICE; AND

* ON-LINE RETRIEVAL OF INFORMATION ON ALL VEHICLES CURRENTLY AND PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY ANY PERSON.