MHI Receives Order from Sri Lanka For Country's First Highway Traffic Management System

The HTMS will be installed on Sri Lanka's Southern Expressway between Colombo and Galle, a distance of approximately 95 kilometers (km).Construction work will be performed under a grant-in-aid provided by the Japanese Government. Based on a package agreement with the Sri Lankan authority placing the order - the Road Development Authority (RDA) - MHI will handle all aspects from engineering, procurement and installation to adjustment and training. The company will provide 24 variable message signboards, vehicle detection cameras, weather sensors and other roadside equipment, as well as the central computer systems for data processing, operating status monitoring, etc.

The Southern Expressway opened in November 2011 and will eventually be connected into neighboring expressways. In addition, further expressway construction is currently under way in Sri Lanka in preparation for an anticipated dramatic increase in vehicle traffic in the coming years. In light of these circumstances, the RDA decided to promote the development of an intelligent transportation system (ITS) so as to provide expressway users with timely traffic information during rainy weather and when accidents occur, in a quest to prevent congestion and secondary damage and ensure safe, smooth high-speed road traffic.

MHI is currently amassing a solid record, both in Japan and abroad, as a leading manufacturer of toll collection systems, including electronic toll collection (ETC) systems, for expressways, parking lots, etc. Today the company is applying the technologies and experience cultivated through these operations to aggressive initiatives in the ITS field, the social infrastructure of the next generation.

Leveraging this first order for a highway traffic management system, going forward MHI intends to focus efforts into sales expansion in overseas markets through proposals of traffic management system specifications and functions best suited to the situations of the emerging economies. At the same time, by proposing comprehensive ITS solutions encompassing expressway toll collection and communication systems, the company aims to contribute to the realization of enhanced traffic safety and reduced congestion, to create pleasant transportation environments.