Questions/Answers

Road traffic accidents in Thailand have caused a lot of deaths, disabilities and also substantial damage to the country’s economy. Most causes of road accidents are from driving behavior such as speeding or lack of sleeping. It is difficult to manually control drivers on roads with a relatively small number of officials. It is also not possible to manually control each vehicle on roads in all areas and at all times. The Department of Land Transport (DLT) has launched the Nationwide GPS Tracking System project with participative management. At first, DLT has required all dangerous goods vehicles to be equipped with GPS by the end of 2015, and all heavy trucks and public buses must install GPS tracking by the end of 2017. The GPS data information will be sent to the GPS Transportation Management Center and the system will detect which vehicles are speeding, or drivers working over their permitted hours. The management of this project will operate by a 360-degree participative management to all related parties and the public. Once, the system detects the vehicles that violate the law or any cases that are risk of accidents, the legal process will begin or notify the transport operators to control the drivers to reduce the speed or change the driver if working hours over the limit. At the same time the official at the center will call for the concerned officials in the route to stop the vehicles. In addition, this project will provide a mobile application called “DLT GPS” to check information of drivers, speed of vehicles and also give feedback. DLT will keep records of transport operators and drivers in the database that will strengthen law enforcement. Furthermore, GPS tracking would increase the efficiency of transportation systems as a whole.

The main objective of this project is to address road safety issues, including reducing road traffic accidents and the number of road fatalities by using GPS tracking technology on trucks and public buses. The GPS data information in each center is linked online to control the drivers’ behavior to comply with the law by participative management to all stakeholders. The secondary objective is to improve the efficiency of road transport by using GPS information for planning and managing to reduce fuel consumption and air pollution. The Big Data for the GPS system will help to improve the quality of bus services and improve passenger convenience.

One of the key success factors is the participation from both private and public sectors. After asking for participation and informing the advantages of installing GPS, all the transport operators are aware of this issue and are willing to install GPS Tracking to their trucks and buses. Considering the GPS Tracking, data from trucks and buses are sent to the GPS Transportation Management Center located at DLT head office. At the GPS Center, there are transport specialists and technical officers to monitor the speed of each vehicle, and exceeding the speed limit will be highlighted. Drivers will get warning messages to reduce their speed. If drivers do not follow the warning messages, the system will inform the operators and a police station at that specific place, the police station will send police to enforce the law and control transport safety. Considering these participations between many public and private organizations as the 360-degree Participative management, passengers can also complain and make suggestions about transportation services by using a mobile application named “DLT GPS.” In addition, passengers can also ask for an emergency help from DLT officers and police officers via “DLT GPS” application.

As this project aims to decrease the number of deaths and injuries from road accidents in Thailand and improve the quality and efficiency of the transportation system, it improves the quality of life for all people who use the transportation system in Thailand. The implementation of GPS Tracking made operators strictly follow the rules and regulations. Consequently, drivers are more likely to improve their driving behavior. Furthermore, the GPS Tracking encourages people to participate in the transportation system management. People can download a DLT GPS mobile application. With this application, people can complain and make suggestions regarding the services and can also monitor location and speed of the buses they are riding. This helps the DLT and the government to provide better services to people all over Thailand equally. Finally, DLT believes that GPS Tracking can bring Thai people with a sustainable transportation system and safety. According to the Sustainable Development Goal – Good Health, this project gives better quality of life and happiness to people in all generations. In addition, it supports a sustainable society by providing people with a safe and efficient transportation system, which directly improves people’s levels of well-being.

Road accident issues in Thailand tremendously decline the quality of life of people in Thailand. It also has a negative effect to the society and Thai economy. Most accidents are related to the driving behavior, such as speeding and lack of sleep. In order to solve this issue, DLT implemented GPS Tracking system. DLT initiated GPS Tracking system by regulating dangerous good operators to install GPS tracking devices to all of their trucks by the end of 2015 and other good and passenger transport operators to install GPS tracking devices to all of their trucks and buses by the end of 2017. This encouraged the participation of many government and non-government sectors, such as Department of Highways and Royal Thai Police. Consequently, the risk of road accidents declined from that before implementing GPS Tracking. Moreover, it encourages people to participate in regulating the national transportation system with the government and DLT, by launching a mobile application, DLT GPS. This application provides people with GPS Tracking information. People can check the GPS status of their vehicles and can also report any issues to DLT.

As mentioned before, road accidents are a serious issue in Thailand and many people died or were seriously injured by road accidents. If we consider road accidents as an economic factor, it costs more than 3 percent of the GDP (estimated in 2015). Moreover, considering the operation of freight and passenger transportation, there are more than 379,989 good transport operators, 38,710 passenger transport operators, and more than 46 million customers (68.65 percent of the whole citizen in Thailand) in 2017. However, nowadays, the operations are not sufficiently efficient. The implementation of GPS Tracking along with the participation from both public and private sectors improves the efficiency of goods and passenger transportation. DLT collected data from GPS and analyzed it in order to make suitable policies and solve many transportation issues. It also has positively impacted on the number of accidents in the country. Thus, it helps DLT to manage and regulate road transportation more efficiently. Essentially, implementing GPS Tracking system decreases the number of road accidents and also increased transportation efficiency and safety. As a result, it improves the well-being of the Thai people and also improves the national GDP.

This initiative is an innovation in the transport sector in Thailand. This technology tracks vehicles with online GPS Tracking system used in conjunction with a driving license reader. This allows the GPS device to send location and speed data together with driver's identity to the GPS Transportation Management Center so that DLT could make use of databases corresponding to the vehicle register, transport operator and driver. One of examples to utilize data is that the identification of the driver from the driving license reader allows DLT to keep track of driving behavior, identify the drivers whether they have the right type of the driving license for their vehicle. If the driver drives too fast or works more than the number of hours that the law stipulated, immediate action from DLT will be taken. Moreover, DLT developed a GPS tracking system with proper investment to cover a large number of vehicles by designing in the way that various GPS Service providers could send accurate data to the GPS Transportation Management Center Overall, this technology requires fewer workers as they can work at the control room to effectively investigate all vehicles in all areas and road routes.

This initiative is adapted from GPS tracking technology in the market. It is often used within the organizations of the transport operator to track their fleets. However, DLT sees the opportunity to adapt this technology to make wider impacts on society. This technology would solve problems that DLT faces as its ability to detect irregularities was limited by the operating capacity of its officer. As a result, law would not be enforced effectively, fairly and equally. Furthermore, with limited manpower resources, it is impossible to investigate in the field all the time. Developing GPS tracking and driving license identification system would let DLT know who are the drivers of each vehicle and make them responsible for their driving behavior, resulting in preventing those breaking the law and reducing risk factors which are the main causes of road accidents. In contrast to the tachograph system, the conventional driving behavior monitoring system that requires roadside inspection, the GPS tracking system is online and data from GPS is updated in real time. That means workers are able to monitor and investigate wrongdoers anytime and anywhere, leading to effective law enforcement.

Finance: 134 million baht from the Road Safety Fund, a foundation supporting road safety in Thailand was spent on research, information system and infrastructure. Manpower: in the initial phase, 15 specialists with various backgrounds, such as programmers, computer engineers, statisticians, architects were assembled and responsible for laying a strong foundation until the GPS Transportation Management Center was officially established under DLT’s structure. 248 contracted staff was recruited to operate in regional control rooms 24/7 in 77 provinces. Infrastructure: The GPS Transportation Management Center is located at DLT main office as a data and policy center and to support 76 regional GPS centers. Partnerships: - Department of Highways, Department of Rural Roads, Highway Police Division and other partners who help prevent potential road incidents from law violators - National Multimodal Transport Integration Center: NMTIC, Department of Transport and Traffic and Accident Management Center, Department of Highways processing data and analyzing traffic flows. - Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning providing data to improve the databases in transport and traffic models. - Business/Public organization: Such as Insurance companies that leverage GPS data to offer discounted premium fees accordingly to the risk levels of operators

Yes

The initiative has been transferred as follows: 1. DLT decided to expand the target group to cover more types of vehicles, such as large buses and trucks with the establishment of regional GPS centers in 77 provinces to thoroughly regulate and supervise road transport systems. 2. In 2018, DLT set the new standard for taxis. The new standard includes installing GPS tracking, meters, cameras and emergency buttons, and it needs to be linked with a mobile application in which people can use to call for taxi service. 3. One of DLT’s partners is the Ministry of Public Health which uses GPS data to track working hours of drivers, and speeding of vehicles for safe journey. Another one of DLT’s partners is The Excise Department which uses GPS data to prevent the smuggling of oil for sale to neighboring countries. 4. Based on concrete success, many representatives from neighboring countries, such as the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam, Ministry of Public Work and Transportation of Lao People's Democratic Republic and many other public and private entities have visited to learn about how the GPS tracking system helps improve road safety and how to utilize big data to its fullest.

This initiative is absolutely sustainable, covering the social, economic and environmental aspects. By leveraging the GPS technology with participative management, the initiative aptly enhances service quality in the promotion and supervision of Thailand road safety. Moreover, it ensures that Thai people could commute anywhere at any time, and it fairly and equally extends the scope of law enforcement. This clearly results in the long-term reduction in road accidents and economic loss, bringing about the improvement of quality of life, the creation of a happier and more secure society and increases confidence in road safety and quality of public transport. It is paramount to note that instead of depending solely on manpower, relying on technology and data is a more sustainable management approach. This technology also creates a communication channel to work with private and public entities and most importantly Thai citizens by providing useful information to improve the transport system and help set the common goal to road safety. Without collaboration and endless efforts from various entities, this sustainable initiative would never have taken place, and tremendous impacts on social, economic and environmental aspects would never have been made.

DLT is preparing to set up the GPS Transportation Management Center as one of divisions under its organization. There will be 23 positions for the Main Center and 248 operating staff working at provincial GPS centers. These personnel are responsible for managing and crafting policy as well as controlling the Main DLT GPS Center and supporting all the provincial centers. It is important to note that DLT has the support of both the main center and the local GPS centers in order to increase its capacity to cope with road safety issues in Thailand in terms of area coverage, more vehicle types to regulate, such as school buses, taxis, etc., and the functions of the programs to meet users’ needs more effectively. For example, using GPS data center information to improve the quality of public bus services in the project called “Smart Bus Terminal”, which the bus users will plan their trip efficiently by knowing the bus location, arriving time or the bus schedule. Overall, this initiative is sustainable by nature because it is the efficient tool for transportation management to improve road safety, and by leveraging GPS big data, DLT is able to analyze, plan and craft suitable policy responsively for the current situation. From a financial perspective, the labor cost of this initiative is fully funded by the Road Safety Fund, which the main source of revenue comes from the auction of preferred or popular plate numbers. Its objective is to fund and promote road safety in Thailand, and its goal is to reduce the loss of road accidents and to help the victims of road accidents. The Road Safety Fund is established by law; therefore, it is a secure source of funding to support DLT to this project.

Yes

To minimize the number of road accidents, lessen the severity of the accidents, and reduce the number of deaths on the road, DLT employs GPS Tracking along with a driver identification system in heavy trucks and all public buses. This project is assessed by key parties as follows: - Ministry of Transport as a supervisory authority, which supports and monitors the performance of the project. - DLT was awarded an excellent service prize (government service) from Office of the Public Sector Development Commission (OPDC) in 2017 for public service improvement. - The Committee of Administrative Center for Road Safety, Ministry of Interior awarded DLT a Prime Minister’s Road Safety Award by evaluating this project in three aspects as follows: a) Road Safety Management: by employing technology and setting up efficient road safety networks and management to enhance the capacity to solve the problem at local and national scale. b) Safe Vehicles: by promoting an improvement of active and passive safety on the vehicles that comply with the international standards, and serve the consumers’ demands. c) Road Safety User Behavior: by introducing the projects and law which improves road user behavior and raises awareness of public safety.

By introducing the project, GPS trackers which are connected to the DLT GPS centers and driver identification devices are installed on 143,201 heavy trucks and 69,309 public buses (as of 31 December 2017). These vehicles, which have a huge impact on public safety, are the first target to be controlled. After a year of intense enforcement, 234,198 cases have been inspected and offenders were punished by fines or cautions and training. All actions were aimed at changing offender’s behavior which results in safer roads for both pedestrians and passengers. The results of the first target group have shown the better behavior of drivers. The drivers’ working hours and resting time are managed; hence the risk of accidents is reduced. Moreover, public transport users and other relating parties can take part in this project for the improvement of the public bus service quality and road safety in Thailand as a whole.

DLT has established a strong measure for enforcing the law since 20 March 2017. The results can be concluded as specify; - Road accident’s statistics The number of accidents caused by buses reduced continuously from around 50 cases per month in 3rd quarter to 39.67 cases in the last quarter of 2017 and to 37.33 cases in the first quarter of 2018. The number of accidents caused by heavy trucks reduced continuously from about 92.67 cases per month in 3rd quarter to 75 cases in the last quarter of 2017 and to 67.33 cases in the first quarter of 2018. - Fatality statistics During a new year holiday, the number of deaths on the Thai road increased noticeably compared with other periods. However, after running this project, the number of deaths caused by public buses reduced from 478 in 2016/2017 to 423 in 2017/2018 (reducing by 11.51 percent). Furthermore, the number of deaths caused by heavy trucks reduced from 1 in 2016/2017 to 0 in 2017/2018. - Severity Index The severity index of heavy truck reduced from 2016 which was 0.69 to 0.61 in 2017, and the severity index of public buses also reduced from 0.61 to 0.48.

This project has a 360-degree participative management concept which technology and networking are used to take benefits from GPS data efficiently. The GPS data and information from DLT database, such as vehicle registration, transport operators, drivers’ licenses, are integrated and linked between the main DLT GPS center and 76 local DLT GPS centers in each province for evaluating and detecting vehicles or drivers that violate the law or having risky behavior. In addition, other relating parties which are Department of Highway, Department of Rural Road, and Highway Police Division, can work together with DLT as a “one transport one family” policy to stop or suspend vehicles in cases of risky driving behavior in order to solve, relief, or prevent any accidents. Furthermore, public transport users can access their vehicles’ travelling data such as driver’s information, location and speed of vehicles. They can also give feedback about services to DLT via the mobile application called “DLT GPS”. This application can be used to track public buses, give feedback, and notify any emergency cases. Recently, the application was downloaded around 120,000 times. During the initiation of this project, DLT have closely discussed with all stakeholders, both government and private sectors by setting up a joint committee for following and solving the problems together. They have considered any possible obstacles for implementing the new law enforcement for examples, the process of law enforcement for speeding, price of the devices, and a proper monthly service fee. In order to strengthen the project, DLT has negotiated with the mobile network service providers to set the price of data services and this has led to the MOU signing. Furthermore, DLT has collaborate with the insurance company to create the new insurance premium assessment system based on transport data gathered by the GPS system.

- To successfully implement the project that will affect most people, planning is a key. Sincere discussions with all stakeholders and exchanging information can help us not only go through any barriers but also receive better ideas and lead to successful implementation. However, when working on the project, unplanned problems can occur. Hence, abilities to follow and solve the problems continuously are also important. - Using a GPS tracking system will bring us to a completely participative management. In the future, by improving DLT GPS system, it can be used as a central platform to track vehicles and connect to other systems. Some relating parties may also have access to DLT system to track vehicles. DLT will be the main body of Thailand for vehicle’s travelling information and geographic information system. This will result in the greatest benefit for the country in terms of finance, maintenance and operating costs. - This government policy triggers the demand on the GPS tracking device and at present, many devices are imported. Therefore, at the initiation of the project, a domestic investment on GPS tracking production should have been considered so as to promote sustainable economy and technology in Thailand.