12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum focuses on cooperation

In April this year, ITS Malaysia will host the 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur to further advance ITS cooperation and coordination between member countries in the region. In 1999, just a year after construction of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers was completed, Kuala Lumpur hosted the 3rd ITS Asia-Pacific Forum. A great deal has changed in the intervening 13 years, not least the scope and importance of the Forum’s programme. The 12th running of this event, being held from 16-18 Ap
March 14, 2012 Read time: 4 mins
The 12th ITS AP Forum 2012 is being held at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre (SPCC), strategically located about 30 minutes from Kuala Lumpur city centre

In April this year, ITS Malaysia will host the 12th ITS Asia-Pacific Forum and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur to further advance ITS cooperation and coordination between member countries in the region.

In 1999, just a year after construction of the iconic Petronas Twin Towers was completed, Kuala Lumpur hosted the 3rd ITS Asia-Pacific Forum. A great deal has changed in the intervening 13 years, not least the scope and importance of the Forum’s programme.

The 12th running of this event, being held from 16-18 April this year, will be preceded by an international symposium and a regional workshop on ITS by the 2128 Asian Development Bank, which is expected to draw wide representation from over 600 delegates from the public sector and academia as well as from the private sector.

Three plenary sessions will focus on communications, telematics and connected vehicles while two executive sessions will see the presentation of international reports on the latest ITS developments in the respective Asia-Pacific countries. There will also be dynamically driven panel sessions on tolling technologies, advanced public transport systems and e-payment and fare management systems as well as special technical sessions covering a broad spectrum of related technologies, best practices and latest deployments.

Overall, the event, which has as its theme ‘powering transformation in transportation’, will include over 70 technical presentations and 11 country reports. Delegates will have the opportunity to listen to speakers from over 16 countries, with keynote presentations from Japan, ITS America and Ertico (ITS-Europe). The event will also provide a showcase for over 50 exhibitors for their ITS products and services.

In addition to all of that, what this year’s event also does is crystalise the rapid pace of development and deployment of ITS in the AsiaPacific region in general, and Malaysia in particular, since the last ITS AP Forum was held here in 1999. For instance, the Damansara-Puchong Highway in Kuala Lumpur was completed that year and represented the first application of advanced ITS on an urban expressway in Malaysia. Applications installed included queue detectors, a high-capacity data and video transmission network, and surveillance equipment.

It wasn’t until 2005 that Malaysia commissioned its first regional ITS deployment – the Integrated Transport Information System (ITIS) developed by City Hall Kuala Lumpur to monitor the ebb and flow of traffic in and out of all key arterial roadways into and around the city. The system continues to evolve to meet increasingly sophisticated demands for live traffic information and incident response from this bustling, dynamic city and will be the focus of a technical tour for delegates to the ITS AP Forum.

Also being demonstrated is the PLUS Traffic Monitoring Centre where delegates will be able to see the operations and management of Asia’s largest publicly listed tolled expressway operator, with close to 1,000km of tolled expressway in Malaysia alone. Dubbed as the most sophisticated traffic monitoring centre in the country, the PLUS TMC operates 24/7 to provide traffic and incident reporting and driver assistance. Also included in the visit will be a briefing and tour of the Malaysian Highway Authority Traffic Management Centre which collates and coordinates traffic information for various toll operations at a national and regional level.

Turning to mass transit, the Integrated Transport Terminal (ITT) concept is a new generation of high-tech multi-modal integrated transport terminals. The ITT in Bandar Tasek Selatan, which is included in the series of technical tours, commenced operations in 2011 and serves buses plying the southern connectors to the city. The ITT also serves as a main interchange between mainline, commuter and express rail, and light rapid transit systems, and is bristling with a range of advanced ITS technologies including an integrated ticketing system.

Delegates to the ITS AP event will also have an opportunity to see Malaysia’s first mass rapid transit project, the largest infrastructure project in the country. This will significantly improve the coverage of rail-based public transport in the Greater Kuala Lumpur/Klang Valley area and is aimed at increasing the public transport modal share from 17% today, towards a 50% share by 2025. Construction of the first 51km line, which will run from Sungai Buloh in the northwest of Kuala Lumpur, to Kajang in the southeast of the Federal capital, was officially launched in July 2011.

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