Hong Kong Industrialist Jan-Mar 2021

transport route search platform, and Dr Pun- Cheng’s team was commissioned to build the system based on EasyGo. T h e re s u l t i n g p l a t f o r m , k n own a s HKeTransport, was launched in 2009, covering different modes of transport, such as MTR, buses, green mini-buses, ferries and trams. The results are sortable by different criteria, such as time, fare and number of interchanges. Dr Pun-Cheng said, “Nowadays, transport operators have their own real-time vehicle tracking system and our job is to combine data from all sources in real time, and show journey times (including waiting time) and fares of the countless combinations of different transport modes between a starting point and a destination. The sheer volume of data is overwhelming and the system has to handle them at the blink of an eye. There are also other 香港乘車易 公共交通是大部分香港市民在本地出行的 唯一或優先選擇。儘管現有無數手機應用程 式和網站為我們安排乘車路線，但在二十年 前，這只是一個想法。直至2002年，理大 開創先河，推出EasyGo公共交通路線搜索 引擎，供學生和教職員使用。適逢運輸署準 備開發集合多種交通工具的路線搜索平台， EasyGo順理成章成為該平台的藍本，而潘 鄭博士的團隊亦獲委任主持有關研發工作。 團隊開發的「香港乘車易」平台最終於 2009年正式啟用。它涵蓋了港鐵、巴士、綠 色小巴、渡輪、電車等各種交通模式，搜尋 結果可按抵達時間、票價、轉乘次數等條件 排列。潘鄭博士表示：「其實，現今的交通 工具營運商都有自己的實時車輛追踪系統， 我們的工作是實時合併各個來源的數據，然 後顯示從起點到終點的所有交通工具路線組 合，以及每個組合的行程時間（包括等車時 間）和票價。要在瞬間處理海量數據已是一 項極大的挑戰，何況還要整理優惠票價、轉 乘折扣、突發事故和交通意外等複雜的資 料。」用戶甚至可通過平台觀看影像，了解 實時路況。 運輸署已將理大的智能交通系統及「香港 乘車易」與其他功能一起納入「香港出行易」 一站式手機應用程式中，為駕駛者和乘客提 供更全面、更快捷的搜尋服務。 無縫運輸交通不單是重要的民生議題，也 是成就高效城市的先決條件。理大多年來在 這方面的貢獻，為香港智慧城市發展立下穩 健的基礎。 challenges to address, such as concession fare and interchange fare discount, and crises or accidents that disrupt transport services.” Users can even view video images along the route on HKeTransport to see the real-time traffic condition for themselves. Both our ITS and HKeTransport have been incorporated under one roof with other functions in HKeMobility, a comprehensive one-stop mobile app provided by the Transport Department, so that both road users and public transport passengers can quickly access the information they need. Seamless mobility is not only a primary social concern, but is a prerequisite for urban efficiency. All through the years, PolyU has made significant contribution in this regard, laying a strong foundation for smart city development in Hong Kong. Above information is derived from August 2020 issue of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's Technology Frontier . Part of contents in this article has been updated. 以上資訊轉載自香港理工大學電子刊物《技術前沿》2020年8月號。部分內容已獲更新。 Dr Lilian Pun-Cheng 潘鄭淑貞博士 1-3/2021 | 59