Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    SHENZHEN will install 200,000 radio frequency identification chips in buses, school buses and heavy vehicles, such as dump trucks, vehicles carrying dangerous cargo and trailers, by May this year, a new measure to establish the city’s intelligent transportation system. There is no time table for private cars.

    Under a program launched by the Ministry of Public Security, Shenzhen will be among the first batch of cities, along with Beijing and Wuxi in Jiangsu Province, to use the chips to identify vehicles and improve traffic management, a news conference at the Shenzhen traffic police bureau said Friday.

    “The move is meant to start the development of intelligent traffic management in the city and tackle illegal activities involving fake license plates, duplicated plates and even crimes involving fake vehicle registration,” said Xu Wei, spokesman and deputy chief of the bureau.

    It could also effectively prevent car plates from being duplicated. It will make it easier to identify stolen cars, too.

    The radio frequency ID chip is a palm-sized card that can be detected by a special police device at a distance of 20 meters. As the cards can’t send signals and don’t have a GPS function, the location of a specific vehicle will remain private.

    If the chips are installed on buses, according to Xu, the buses could be easily detected at crossroads and automatically given longer green-light time.

    The chip stores information such as a vehicle’s plate number and the color of the vehicle. The personal information of car owners can’t be leaked through the chip, according to the police.

    Xu said police have a strict supervision and approval system on access to vehicle information to ensure its confidentiality and security.