More coordinated, Xiamen uses 'smarter' transport networks

Xiamen traffic and transportation departments now have a smart way to manage the city's urban road network thanks to a road network monitoring and management platform.

Though just recently completed, the platform is already being adopted for the creation of an intelligent traffic information network that features "a network, a database, and a platform".

According to the Xiamen Transportation Bureau, the platform is the most advanced platform of its kind in Fujian province, covering various areas including comprehensive traffic operation, road bridges, tunnel maintenance, and traffic law enforcement. In addition, with large volumes of shared information, it serves as the data, service, information, and command center for various departments, which has significantly improved the overall efficiency and emergency rescue capabilities of the city's transportation system.

Users rely on a large display screen, a key part of the system, to check real-time data and other situations. An official from the local highway development center said that the "map" on the screen shows road assets such as highway management and maintenance lines, mileage, and basic information about bridges, culverts, and tunnels. Daily operations of the road network, bridge and tunnel monitoring video, intersection traffic flow, and water flow under the tunnel can be viewed in real time. Operators can also quickly understand emergency situations, operation of maintenance vehicles, and various other resources, giving them unified control of almost everything.

"We can find out quickly whether there has been a significant increase in the number of repairs on a certain section of the road," said a person in charge, "if yes, we then investigate the cause and respond accordingly."

An official compares the platform to a brain and the network a skeleton, while the database functions as flesh and blood and the images the eyes and ears.

The Xiamen Highway Development Center and all its branch offices register and log in the platform with the same account and same password via the same entry point. This enables the departments to make unified dispatches and commands, respond rapidly, and work in synergy.

Another official revealed that different fields of transportation-related information networks are "evolving" to be highly integrated and closely linked, and finally to form an organic whole. "Multi-network integration" will become the focus of future work and sharing of resources will continue to be stressed.