The Transport Department announced today that a smart motorway operational test will be conducted at the road section of Ting Kau Bridge southbound, or Tsing Yi bound, at noon on June 21 for about 15 minutes.
During the test, the fast lane of Ting Kau Bridge southbound will be temporarily closed, while the hard shoulder will be open for traffic for the first time. The speed limit will also be reduced to 50 km per hour accordingly at the above road section.
The department reminds motorists to pay heed to the lane control signals and speed limits on site when passing through the road section during the test time, and follow safe driving instructions.
Launched on December 29 last year, the Smart Motorway Pilot Scheme at Ting Kau Bridge southbound has been operating smoothly.
With the application of artificial intelligence technologies, the newly installed Automatic Incident Detection System effectively assists operation staff at the Tsing Ma Control Area in detecting and handling traffic incidents more expeditiously.
As of the end of May this year, the system has effectively detected 16 traffic incidents that occurred at the road section within a short time, most of which were minor traffic accidents.
Of these 16 incidents, 11 were detected within 10 seconds and immediate alerts were issued to operation staff for follow-up. The detection time has now been significantly reduced by nearly 90%, raising the efficiency and capability to respond to incidents.
The June 21 test aims to further evaluate the pilot scheme’s effectiveness and to assess motorists’ compliance with the control signals and their proper use of the hard shoulder.
The department added that various operational data will also be collected during the test, as reference for optimising the pilot scheme and formulating the strategy for implementing smart motorways in future.
