“LTA is more than just ERP (Electronic Road Pricing),” stressed Mrs Rosina Howe-Teo, Chief Innovation Officer & Group Director, Innovation and Infocomm Technology, Land Transport Authority (LTA, www.lta.gov.sg).

Indeed, the statutory board spearheads overall improvements to the land transport system through integrated planning, development and management of land transport policies and infrastructure. In pursuit of giving road users easier traffic flow, LTA has invested heavily in technology for traffic management.

BG(NS) Yam Ah Mee, Chief Executive of LTA (left), receiving the award from RADM(NS) Lui Tuck Yew for the Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology in the Public Sector.

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is the integration of many massive systems, like computerised traffic lights, Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System (EMAS), monitoring of traffic at expressway tunnels and junctions, and a parking information system that tells motorists of available parking spaces – as well as the ERP system, of course.

ITS deploys various technologies, including infocomm to give motorists a “closer link” to the driving infrastructure, giving them real time information of road and even parking conditions, in order to optimise the available road space. One example of their innovativeness is the Parking Guidance System, which was launched in April this year at the Marina Centre area. The idea is to tell drivers how many parking spots are available in the nearest car park, to reduce circulation as drivers go from one car park to another.

“We have garnered a lot of positive feedback,” said Mrs Howe-Teo of the system. “We have seen such systems overseas, but they are not as precise as ours. Our system goes down to the exact number of parking spots.”

For ITS, LTA won this year’s National Infocomm Award for the Most Innovative Use of Infocomm Technology (Public Sector). “This award is very significant to LTA because it gives recognition to many years of hard work, putting together systems that are not visible to the public. But the integration of these systems has brought new value to the public, because all the information from various sources of ITS system are now integrated and translated into very user-friendly information to the public,” said Mrs Howe-Teo.

Indeed, ITS has created annual savings of S$40 million for the country – from time saving and the avoidance of jams despite a growing vehicle population, and from overcoming spatial constraints that restrict road-building.

Mrs Howe-Teo promises more technological innovation down the road. “The next thing will be when we offer this in navigational guides on mobile phones, Internet and PDAs,” she said.