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Border crossings with HK, Macao automated
(Kyodo)
Updated: 2006-04-06 14:22 China's Ministry of Public
Security has begun using automated checkpoints to speed up vehicular traffic at
the borders with Hong Kong and Macao, reducing waiting times from 30 to five
seconds and easing traffic backups, a ministry official said Thursday.
Last year, the ministry completed the key stage of upgrades in technology
that lets drivers from Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland use passes containing
fingerprint and facial image data, said Liu Shuo, vice director at the
ministry's technology department. He said computer systems also read license
plates as vehicles approach a checkpoint.
This system, installed at some checkpoints in the mainland cities of Shenzhen
and Zhuhai, has so far processed some 58.94 million vehicles, 12 percent more
than average, ministry officials said. One inspector can now check several lanes
at once.
"It's very convenient and very precise," Liu said at a press conference in
Beijing. "If you go to Hong Kong or Macao, you can see that it's very smooth."
The automated border crossings are part of the ministry's 816 million yuan
($1.02 million) package of technological improvements following 15 years of
planning and a central government edict to make the country stronger
technologically.
Liu did not say what the checkpoint technology would cost or when its
installation would be finished.
The ministry is not planning to extend the automation to China's border
checkpoints with other countries, Liu said.
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