The Institute of Transportation (IOT) of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said that it is using 5G technology to adjust traffic signaling systems so that ambulances, fire trucks and other rescue vehicles could quickly reach their destinations without getting stuck in traffic.
Although ambulances and fire trucks have priority access on roads and are exempt from following
traffic signals when they are on duty, they could still be stranded in traffic when there is traffic congestion.
Photo: Taipei Times file
IOT Director-General Lin Chi-kuo (林繼國) said in a news conference in Taipei that one of the institute’s main tasks this year is to enhance rescue vehicles’ ability to quickly pass through busy intersections.
“When a rescue vehicle is called upon, the sensor installed in the vehicle would be activated. It would send the estimated route and the time needed for the vehicle to
arrive at the designated locations to the 5G Smart Technology Digital Center Network, which would then remotely control the traffic signals along the route before the vehicle arrives at intersections,” Lin said.
“The system allows rescue vehicles and other vehicles going in the same direction to drive through intersections quickly by timing the green lights longer. Traffic lights on the other side of the intersections would stay red for longer as well,” Lin said.
The system can also analyze any abnormality in traffic flow and respond to any changes in measures to facilitate traffic, Lin said, adding that the system would help expedite the passage of ambulances in intersections in Taichung first.
The city in central Taiwan was chosen because it was open to trialling the system, and it is technically feasible, Lin said.
The system would be used in fire trucks and other rescue vehicles as well, he said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS