Fire trucks drive in a convoy in Seoul (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Office plans to ensure the unimpeded passage of fire engines at all of its intersections with traffic lights.
The autonomous police force on South Korea’s largest island of Jeju announced on Wednesday that it will expand the installation of emergency vehicle-prioritizing traffic signal systems for the province’s 1,025 intersections with traffic lights by the first half of next year.
When emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire trucks approach, this system automatically senses their direction and location and turns traffic lights to green to ensure that they can pass through the intersection without having to stop.
Starting in 2020, the autonomous police force has operated the emergency vehicle-prioritizing traffic signal system for 13 intersections stretching along about a 14-kilometer route located within the city of Jeju on a trial basis.
Existing methods, however, require the installation of transmitters, signal controllers, and wireless base stations at intersections, thereby resulting in high operational costs.
A newly-developed “center-based” method, however, can control traffic signals at all intersections simply by leveraging the existing infrastructure of the police’s traffic information center.
Expanding the area of application does not generate any additional installation costs, offering budget savings. In addition, the system also has outstanding functionality.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
