Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho wants the government to find smarter traffic management solutions for both vehicles and pedestrians to ease traffic jams and avoid accidents, particularly at zebra crossings.
In a written inquiry to the government, the lawmaker noted the traffic light system in Macau is mostly outdated and operated manually and does not consider the amount of traffic at different times of the day or even on different streets at a given time.
For the lawmaker, it is unacceptable that Macau has an electronic traffic management system and a control center that is supposed to coordinate on these matters, but none of these systems is in force or is being effectively managed, he said.
To ease constant traffic jams, especially in the central districts, he proposed Macau adopt a new system of intelligent traffic lights that can automatically adjust the timing for one or another direction of traffic according to real-time traffic conditions.
He noted such a system, combined with the 5G network capabilities, could be the best solution and could replace the constant need to send police traffic officers to the most congested crossroads to try to manually adjust the traffic conditions.
He said the same system would also help those with physical disabilities to cross the roads, especially the visually impaired.
Another of the adjustments the same lawmaker believes needs to urgently change is related to zebra crossings and the use of speed bumps to reduce vehicles’ speed in certain areas. He noted that some countries in northern Europe, such as Denmark and Iceland, have already adopted the system of 3D zebra crossings, which initially surged in Japan.
He noted the example of the city of London, where these types of zebra crossings have been installed near schools to force drivers to slow down and pay more attention to pedestrians.
Noting several accidents that have occurred at zebra crossings recently, Pereira Coutinho also wants to adopt the system that sends out a “strong light” warning to pedestrians, indicating when the light is red.
He says many people are falling victim to a “digital zombie” trend in which people obsessed with their mobile phone screens fail to pay the right amount of attention while crossing the roads.
