KUCHING: The State Ministry of Transport is working on a smart traffic light system for Sarawak which will incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) in efforts to ease traffic congestion.
Transport Minister Datuk Lee Kim Shin said that with the smart system, traffic lights would be adjustable.
“For example, some stretches of road have heavier traffic flow, so we can adjust the traffic light time to give priority to these roads,” he explained when speaking at the Free School Bus Programme Briefing at Yayasan Sarawak here yesterday.
Another problem he touched on was that some routes had so many traffic lights that road users had to stop too often.
“Sometimes, they have not driven another 100 metres and there would be another traffic light,” he said.
Lee said the ministry was working on synchronising traffic lights along certain routes to allow smoother traffic flow without stopping every few minutes.
He said that there would also be a control centre encompassing all traffic lights in Sarawak which would be able to monitor accidents or issues.
“For example, if there is an accident along a certain road, we can send out a message to advise road users to avoid that particular route.
“The control centre would also be able to adjust traffic lights,” he said.
Lee said the ministry would be calling for its first public transport committee meeting in March, where stakeholders in the transportation industry would be invited to provide feedback and input.
