Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid opens Dh590m smart traffic centre in Dubai

A traffic management centre that will reduce accident response times and help manage congestion was inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid on Tuesday.

The Vice President and Ruler of Dubai visited the Dubai Centre for Intelligent Traffic Systems, where he was briefed on its operations.

It cost Dh590 million and centralises a network of smart cameras that are linked to databases.

The facility is considered one of the biggest and most sophisticated centres of its kind in the world. It was developed to meet the needs of Dubai's rapid urban growth, the infrastructure expansion required for Expo 2020, and also support current and future transport systems.

The centre expands the coverage of intelligent traffic systems from 11 per cent to 60 per cent of the road network in the emirate and improves detection times for accidents.

"We will manage our traffic using optical fibres and specialised devices to monitor accidents," Sheikh Mohammed said.

He said sensors and other devices would be used to monitor journey times between the regions of the emirate.

More than 110 cameras to measure the average speed of a car were installed along with 17 weather sensing stations. All the data is put into a system that is monitored by officers, who can also display important messages to the public from the centre.

Sheikh Mohammed reviewed the results of the trial operation of the RTA-Dubai Police joint traffic incident management project implemented in 2018. A trial for the project took place on the Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road and Expo Road over a 72-kilometre sector. It featured the rapid deployment of 17 vehicles to clear roads and contributed to reducing traffic fatalities by 42 per cent.

Sheikh Mohammed also reviewed some other transport projects at a cost of Dh4.6bn. These include plans for 119 kilometres of roads and bridges that will serve the new Al Maktoum Airport, the Expo 2020 Dubai site, Jebel Ali and International Media Production City.

He said the projects were in line with the emirate's plans that 25 per cent of all journeys in Dubai will be driverless by 2030.

"Dubai is a pioneer and will remain so," Sheikh Mohammed said.