NEA, LTA explore use of advanced cameras to identify
offenders
SINGAPORE - As the number of vehicle offences and high-rise
littering cases heads north, the National Environment Agency (NEA),
the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the Traffic Police are
exploring the use of advanced camera technology to tackle
violations.
In two separate tenders issued last month, the LTA aims to develop
Licence Plate Recognition technology for bus lane violations and
illegal U-turns, while the NEA is seeking high definition
surveillance cameras to nab high-rise litter bugs.
The NEA said it is exploring the use of cameras for surveillance as
"apprehending high-rise littering offenders is both
manpower-intensive and requires long hours of stakeouts". It
carried out two preliminary trials with Certis Cisco and
ATOS.
The NEA told MediaCorp that limitations encountered in the earlier
trials included technical constraints - such as resolution of the
CCTV cameras and software analytics - which affected the quality of
the video clips and, consequently, their admissibility as evidence
for prosecution.
For its latest trial, the NEA has required prospective vendors to
develop a system that "should enable the identification of the
perpetuator".
"If this cannot be achieved, the system shall at least reveal the
act of the high rise littering offence being committed from which
particular unit at the HDB block," the NEA stated in the tender
documents. Its tender closed last Monday.
The NEA's move comes as high-rise littering complaints rose last
year for the third year running.
Between January and March, the NEA received 1,133 complaints about
high-rise littering. In response to MediaCorp's queries, an NEA
spokesperson said three offenders were caught in the same period.
One offender was fined S$500 and ordered to do three hours of
corrective work, while the other two cases are pending court
prosecution.
Residents such as Mr Peter Toh from Bukit Batok West could benefit
from the NEA's move. He has had curry, banana skin, egg shells and
cigarette butts landing on his car parked below his block. "We
complained to the town council but it was no use - they can't seem
to catch the culprit," he said.
According to tender documents issued last month, LTA wants to set
up a B-Eyes System, which boasts at least 80 per cent accuracy in
capturing vehicle licence plates. As part of the overall system, a
roadside detection system will help sift out the types of vehicle
licence plates based on their prefixes, such as those belonging to
SBS Transit and SMRT Buses. It should also be able to identify
off-peak car plates from normal licence plates and map the licence
plate numbers with its database to identify off-peak cars on the
roads during restriction hours.
Off-peak car offences hit an all-time peak of 12,000 last year - 10
times greater than the year before - while bus lane offenders fell
22.8 per cent from 2009.
The LTA said that the use of technology will heighten compliance
and ensure overall safety and optimisation of traffic flow for the
greater benefits of all motorists. The LTA's tender is open till
April 25. Leong Wee Keat