Bangkok traffic: New automatic system launched to ease city congestion

As a strategic initiative aimed at improving vehicle movement, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) recently initiated an automatic traffic-management system. This pilot project focuses on optimising traffic across four significant roads within the capital city.

Chadchart Sittipunt, the Governor of Bangkok, divulged that the modern system is to be installed at 13 intersections on key city routes, counting Rama VI Road, Ratchawithi Road, Phahon Yothin Road, and Praditpat Road. He mentioned the challenge of deploying close to a thousand officers across the city to handle Bangkok traffic lights, half of whom are traffic light controllers. Due to inadequate information-sharing measures between units, efficiency is often undermined.

Providing a solution to this encumbrance, the newly installed Bangkok Area Traffic Control Project (BATCP) promises to rectify such inefficiencies.

BATCP is programmed to collate valuable data including vehicle density, waiting periods at traffic intersections, and locations experiencing extended tailbacks. These elements of data will then be utilised to manage Bangkok traffic effectively and inhibit the exacerbation of jams. Additionally, the new system is pegged to provide relief to the existing workforce of traffic officers.

With the expansion of this intelligent system to cover more than 500 points across the city by the year 2026, BMA seeks to provide motorists with advanced Bangkok traffic information accessible via their smartphones. This initiative will enable road users to plan their travel routes in advance optimising time and fuel efficiency, reported Bangkok Post.

Offering further insight into this system, the Deputy Governor of Bangkok, Visanu Samsompol shed light on the process.

“Cameras have been installed at intersections and are integrated with a broader city-wide control system to achieve improved network synchronisation.”

He added that equipment capable of detecting congestion on the roads will be in place to enhance the calculation of traffic signal timings. Moreover, volumetric data will be collated to aid the police in managing Bangkok traffic.

Predicting an improvement of 10% in traffic flow during peak hours and a substantial 30% elsewhere, Samsompol indicates clear benefits of the newly implemented Area Traffic Control system. The BMA has also reportedly acquired support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to smoothly facilitate the realisation of this Bangkok traffic management system.