First smart traffic sign in place

BANGKOK: -- The first smart traffic sign, the brainchild of Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin, was installed on Silom road yesterday.

Mr Apirak was there in person to see it installed in front of the Bangkok Bank headquarters. The smart traffic sign, which will begin monitoring the traffic flow this month, will inform motorists about traffic conditions in Silom and its nearby areas.

It will show in red, yellow and green lines the traffic situation at 10 intersections around the Silom area. The red line stands for heavily congested, yellow _ not too bad, and green _ good flow. Motorists will also be informed of road accidents. Traffic information will be updated every 30 seconds, said Mr Apirak. The city administration will install the smart traffic signs at four more locations this month.

The four locations are Prompong intersection on Sukhumvit road, Phayathai intersection on Phayathai road, Tuek Thai intersection on Rama VI road, and at the Sathorn intersection on Narathiwat Ratchanakharint road.

Deputy city governor Samart Ratchapolsitte, in charge of the project, said altogether the smart traffic signs would be installed at 40 locations throughout the city, with 26 of them on main roads and the rest on expressway exits. All of them would be installed within November.

--Bangkok Post 2005-08-17

Anyone care to take a bet as to how long it will remain working and accurately updating?

Do I hear one week?..... 4 days?....... 3 hours?

A smart traffic sign? Now you can look at a sign to know that you are stuck in traffic and that the next 10 intersections are similarly congested. Sounds like a great idea. How smart is a sign like that really.

It amazes me that some intersections have 15 traffic police officers directing traffic at some hours in the day. I have counted them.

Perhaps electronic sensors could be used to replace some of these officers. Wouldn't that be smarter?

Police officers would then be free to ticket people who disobey traffic rules (such as running red lights, tailgating, reckless driving, and speeding) These people eventually slow traffic by their driving methods (causing people to break frequently, slow down, or even stop).

Perhaps greater investments in public transportation could provide a better solution as well. The skytrain and subway seem filled to capacity every morning.

Same thread is running on Bangkok Forum - can we merge these two?

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=42380

A smart traffic sign?  Now you can look at a sign to know that you are stuck in traffic and that the next 10 intersections are similarly congested.  Sounds like a great idea.  How smart is a sign like that really.

Agreed. As described in the posted article (supplemented with a picture of said smart sign in today's Bangkok Post), it's hard for me to picture what such a sign actually does to help alleviate congestion. One is already in the middle of the Silom Road fray before being presented with this nearby intersection traffic information. I'm all for having relevant, timely traffic information but this seems like a case of "too much, too late". This project sounds like yet another way to waste a bunch of money on expensive electronic gadgets that are no doubt being supplied by some connected pooyai's cousin.