The bus-only lanes on the roads of central Seoul may soon also be found in Cebu, the Philippines.

A traffic road show to promote Korea's intelligent transportation systems (ITS) was held in Indonesia and the Philippines from March 7 to 11. Both countries have been working on developing better public transportation systems and infrastructure, trying to solve problems with urban traffic congestion. Korea's transportation systems and policies are being considered, while a number of business meetings have also taken place alongside the road show.

Intelligent transportation systems (ITS) feature smart transportation infrastructure or systems that collect transportation data and disperse traffic accordingly, hence mitigating and lessening congestions and improving traffic flow. A single transportation transit card that covers all public transportation, including taxis, electronic payment of expressway tolls and real-time information for bus passengers -- all aspects of the transportation system that are familiar to residents and visitors in Seoul -- are part of the ITS.

Indonesia struggles with urban traffic congestion caused by rapid urbanization. The nation is considering traffic centers for traffic management and the development of bus rapid transit (BRT) systems in about 30 cities nationwide. It is also working on developing a roadmap for expressways and adopting electronic expressway toll payment systems.

The Philippines is also considering the adoption of transportation transit cards and BRT systems, along with traffic centers. Some Korean companies are already participating in the development of traffic signal systems in Manila and in the BRT project in Cebu.

The traffic road show was jointly hosted by ITS Korea and the Korea Trade Promotion Corporation (KOTRA).

By Chang Iou-chung
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photo: ITS Korea
icchang@korea.kr