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Published on March 11, 2008

A collaborative effort between the National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) and the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EAT) will soon help Thais get intelligent traffic information so they can estimate the time they are likely to take on the Expressway.

The collaboration has come out with Travelling Time Duration, a project to build up an intelligent transportation system (ITS) to monitor traffic congestion on the Expressway and make time predictions for motorists.

Passakorn Prathombutr, director of Nectec's ITS project, said closed-circuit televisions (CCTVs) would be installed along the Expressway to monitor traffic and analyse congestion, in order to make time predictions for travel between any two given points.

Initially, 15 CCTVs will be installed along the Expressway between the Rama II and Tha Rua toll gates.

Via ITS technology developed by Nectec, the system uses image-processing technology and specialised software to keep track of the number of vehicles passing each point, as well as their speed, Passakorn said.

The system marks a starting and a finishing point, which are used to measure the average speed of the vehicle, Passakorn said.

"This information can be used to make an in-depth analysis of traffic," he said.

To make the system more intelligent, Nectec and the EAT are working with Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Engineering to analyse raw traffic information from the system further, the better to predict travelling time.

Passakorn said Nectec would fund four separate research groups - at Chulalongkorn, the EAT, the Suranaree University of Technology and Nectec - to develop an algorithm for the analysis of raw traffic information used in making the predictions.

"We'll fund the four research groups with a total budget of Bt2 million. They'll conduct their research on travelling-time prediction systems over a time period of six months," Passakorn said.

He said Nectec had signed a memorandum of understanding with the EAT to install the CCTVs and build a link to the authority's traffic centre. Traffic-information collection from CCTVs and implementation of the image-processing system is expected to begin by the end of next month.

Nectec is also working with PTT and the Fuel Oil Logistics Association to develop an ITS system to help monitor oil lorries, in order to ensure better safety.

Pongpen Sutharoj

The Nation