The Expressway Monitoring and Advisory System (

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: 电子监控与信息系统), also known by its

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in '' NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, a ...

of EMAS, is a computerised system that is used to monitor traffic on

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

's expressways. EMAS enables

Land Transport Authority The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is a statutory board under the Ministry of Transport of the Government of Singapore. History Incorporation of Land Transport Authority Land Transport Authority (LTA) was established on 1 September 1995, ...

(LTA) personnel to detect

accidents An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not directly caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that nobody should be blamed, but the event may have been caused by unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Most researche ...

and respond to them more quickly. In addition, it notifies motorists of adverse traffic conditions.

History

The contract for the construction of EMAS was awarded by the LTA to Singapore Technologies Electronics in December 1996. The first phase, implemented only on the Central Expressway, was launched officially on 21 March 1998 by then Minister of State for Communications, John Chen. In addition, tunnels were originally used by General Electric between 1991 and 1999. The system was extended to every expressways after the trial, in 2000: *10 November 1999: Ayer Rajah Expressway (Keppel Road - Clementi) *End of 2000: Pan Island Expressway, East Coast Parkway, Clementi-Tuas stretch of the AYE *Mid-2001: Bukit Timah Expressway, Kranji Expressway, Seletar Expressway, Tampines Expressway Separately, the checkpoints utilized EMAS signboards through General Electric and which is located at - *Turf Club Avenue (towards BKE) emoved on 1 January 2004*Mandai Road (towards BKE) emoved on 1 January 2004*Woodlands Road (near to Kranji MRT) emoved on 1 January 2004*SLE (Woodlands Avenue 2 - BKE) anded over to LTA and removed in 2014*BKE (Bukit Panjang Road - KJE) anded over to LTA and removed in 2014*BKE (KJE - Mandai Road) anded over to LTA and removed in 2014*BKE (Mandai Road - Turf Club Avenue) anded over to LTA and removed in 2014*BKE (Turf Club Avenue - Woodlands Road) anded over to LTA and removed in 2014*AYE (Pioneer Road - Benoi Road) emoved in 2006*AYE (Exit 22 - Exit 24) emoved in 2013*PIE (near to KJE) emoved during the PIE Upgrading*PIE (Exit 41) emoved during the PIE Upgrading The upgrading of EMAS signages was announced in September 2013. It will be rolled out to Central Expressway (both blue screens and tunnels), East Coast Parkway, and Bukit Timah Expressway/Seletar Expressway that is near to the Woodlands Checkpoint, which was completed in October 2014. The second phase will be rolled out to Ayer Rajah Expressway and Kranji Expressway, which was completed in August 2015. The third phase will be rolled out to the remaining expressways, which was completed in February 2016.

Mechanism

EMAS consists of a network of electronic

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s and

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signboard Signage is the design or use of signs and symbols to communicate a message. A signage also means signs ''collectively'' or being considered as a group. The term ''signage'' is documented to have been popularized in 1975 to 1980. Signs are any ...

s located at strategic points along the expressways. The cameras transmit data to the ITS Centre, located at Clemenceau Avenue. In the Centre, staff monitor the data 24 hours a day, looking out for signs of accidents. When an accident occurs, the appropriate agencies, such as the Traffic Police and SCDF, are notified. Warning messages are then displayed on the signboards to inform motorists of the accident and allow them to make alternative travel plans. When the expressways are free of accidents, the signboards are used to display other informational messages, such as

road safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures used to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, vehicle passengers, horse riders, and passengers of on-roa ...

reminders, planned road closures, or road works. As part of the upgrading work for the EMAS, smaller signboards were installed on the expressways as well as arterial roads that connect to them. These smaller signboards were intended to display estimated travel time to various destinations which is colour-coded from shorter to longer travelling times, information messages.

Effectiveness and criticism

EMAS has helped LTA to detect road traffic accidents, vehicle breakdowns, and other incidents. By June 2004, LTA had removed conventional

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telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into el ...

s from all Singapore expressways (except the CTE tunnels), citing the effectiveness of EMAS and the widespread use of

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive telephone call, calls over a radio freq ...

s as reasons. LTA reassured motorists without mobile phones that they would not be stranded without help in case of a breakdown, as the expressways are patrolled by EMAS recovery teams in two trucks every two hours. However, the system has been panned by its critics who denounce it as a waste of money, with messages being couched in "unintelligible" abbreviations. For example, "Please" is shortened to " PLS" in the first picture of this article.

References

{{reflist

External links

A guide to EMAS symbols and abbreviations
Automotive safety Expressways in Singapore

History

Mechanism

Effectiveness and criticism

See also

References

External links