'Green light' system to help SCDF ambulances reach hospitals faster

It gives them priority at traffic lights, allows them to avoid getting stuck at junctions

- Zaihan Mohamed Yusof and Kyleen Cabael

Ambulances taking emergency patients to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital will be able to do so more quickly from the middle of July, with a new traffic priority system (TPS) the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) unveiled on July 4.

The system will give SCDF ambulances priority at traffic lights, so they have a "green light" path to the hospital and can avoid getting stuck in traffic at junctions near hospitals or having to run red lights.

It will allow patients to get treatment sooner a trial at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital found the system saved between 30 seconds and 100 seconds per trip.

Ng Teng Fong General Hospital will be the first hospital to have four TPS traffic junctions in its vicinity from July 15. The junctions are Boon Lay Way and Jurong Gateway Road; Jurong East Street 21 and Jurong Gateway Road; Toh Guan Road and Jurong Gateway Road; and Toh Guan Road and Boon Lay Way.

By the second quarter of 2025, the system will also cover Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Changi General Hospital and National University Hospital.

The remaining public hospitals KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Woodlands Health Campus - will receive TPS coverage by the fourth quarter of 2025.

The TPS, co-developed by the SCDF, Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) and Land Transport Authority (LTA), is part of new innovations unveiled at SCDF's Workplan Seminar 2024, held at Ngee Ann Polytechnic on July 4.

TPS uses an electronic transponder inside each ambulance to activate priority passage at traffic junctions near hospitals.

At these junctions, sensors known as roadside equipment are linked with traffic light controllers, which trigger traffic lights in favour of an approaching ambulance.