On Sept. 12, the Smart Roadshow News Center of the 2020 Smart China Expo Online held an online press conference on the city’s development plan in smart expressway construction.

As a pillar infrastructure featuring the integration of traditional expressway with 5G, Big Data, Cloud Computing, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, the smart expressway has always been the future trend of expressway construction in the city.

Chongqing’s unique geographic features pose a significant challenge to the construction of smart expressways, with the main urban area cut off from the sounding counties and districts by numerous mountains and valleys. Therefore, a thorough and scientific development plan should be carefully implemented to ensure the safe, smooth, and efficient traffic flow, according to Li Haiying, deputy general manager of the Chongqing Expressway Group Co., Ltd.

“First, we need further to integrate the monitoring and management systems in expressway operation; second, we need to improve the control and detection capacity for traffic emergencies; third, we need to promote wider use of ETC services; then, we need to accelerate the layout of 5G applications; finally, we need to advance the coordination of vehicles and roads.”

According to the deputy general manager of the Chongqing Shouxun Technology Co., Ltd., Xiang Guanghua, Chongqing’s expressways are also highly involved in the interconnectivity and information sharing with A Map, which is one of the most popular map services providers in China. With a deeper collaboration between the two parties, drivers can easily get access to the real-time traffic conditions while using A Map’s GPS services on expressways in the city.

“What’s more, almost all ETC services, including bill inquiry, balance recharge, and ID verification, will be moved online to the mobile app, and its WeChat official account.”

Wang Rongbin, deputy general manager with the Science & Technology Information Department of Chongqing Expressway Group Co., Ltd., said that 5G-enabled smart expressways could achieve real-time data transmission on a larger scale and with higher quality. “There’s a very practical need for smart expressways to monitor weather conditions and the real-time situations of bridges, tunnels, traffic flow, and emergencies, so expressways are one of the major areas for 5G applications,” Wang said.