Skip to main content

Kuala Lumpur replaces obsolete traffic management system

With its integrated transport information system (ITIS) in ruins and waiting to be sold for salvage, Kuala Lumpur’s government has awarded a contract to improve its traffic management. GTC Global won the US$62 million contract last year to bring ITIS back on track. The company was recently acquired by Telekom Malaysia. In 2002, a traffic surveillance system costing more than US$93 million was launched to gather, process and supply real-time traffic information to reduce congestion in Kuala Lumpur. It we
April 9, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
With its integrated transport information system (ITIS) in ruins and waiting to be sold for salvage, Kuala Lumpur’s government has awarded a contract to improve its traffic management.  GTC Global won the US$62 million contract last year to bring ITIS back on track. The company was recently acquired by Telekom Malaysia.

In 2002, a traffic surveillance system costing more than US$93 million was launched to gather, process and supply real-time traffic information to reduce congestion in Kuala Lumpur. It went live in 2005 and less than two years later became a target for vandals and its technology soon became obsolete.

When Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib took office 18 months ago, the system was performing at 60 per cent capacity. He has guaranteed that the new system will be more cost-effective, efficient and able to keep pace with rapidly changing technological advances.

“We are confident of Telekom’s ability to handle this project, but this time, we are doing it differently. Instead of managing the system, we will lease the necessary equipment to them so that their contractor takes the risk,’’ said Ahmad Phesal.  “We expect ITIS to be fully restored by the middle of the year. We have finished installing 90 per cent of the CCTV units in the city to ensure public safety and the 140 variable message signs (VMS) are currently being installed and will be fully operational soon.”

ITIS is a federal government project developed by ITS Konsortium intended to solve Kuala Lumpur’s traffic congestion problem. The traffic management centre (TMC) links the system’s two main components, the advanced traffic management system (ATMS) and the advanced traveller information system (ATIS).  The system also includes 140 VMS, 255 CCTV and automatic incident detection. Traffic signals are linked to the TMC but are controlled separately.

Related Content

  • Developments in smarter multi-modal fare paynment
    February 2, 2012
    This section pulls together all the multi-modal topics in each issue. Subject matter will include smartcards; ticketing and payment systems; passenger information systems; fleet management for buses, trains and light rail; park and ride systems; on-line access to real-time information via Internet portals
  • Authorities look to MaaS for new solutions and cost savings
    July 18, 2017
    The structure of society and the way in which our cities work will be completely transformed by Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Finland’s minister of transport and communications Anne Berner, told ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference 2017 in London. In her keynote address, Berner told a packed audience of more than 200 ITS professionals that MaaS has the potential to help governments around the world meet their big city targets such as the rate of employment, the environment, the efficient use of
  • Digital twins promise no jam tomorrow
    June 6, 2024
    Every year, Transport for London helps make billions of road journeys congestion-free - but could it do better? Digital twin and graph technology are starting to make London less congested and greener, says database expert Aaron Holt
  • Developments in travel information display systems
    August 1, 2012
    David Crawford looks at recent developments in travel information display systems. It is important to remember that we are investing in Real-Time Passenger Information [RTPI] to increase ridership," says Robert Burke, Managing Director of New Zealand transit tracking technology specialist Connexionz, which has been involved in at-stop and remote passenger information since 1995. "Superior information improves the perception of public transport reliability and gives the passenger more choices and greater con