Skip to main content

Abu Dhabi traffic lights get smart

In a bid to reduce congestion during peak hours, Abu Dhabi transport authorities have completed the installation of smart systems to control traffic lights at key intersections depending on the number of cars on each side. Officials said the system has been installed at 56 junctions in Abu Dhabi city and outskirts and described it as one of the world’s most advanced traffic management systems involving smart applications and ground sensors. The new system uses in-road sensors to detect the number of v
November 14, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
In a bid to reduce congestion during peak hours, Abu Dhabi transport authorities have completed the installation of smart systems to control traffic lights at key intersections depending on the number of cars on each side.

Officials said the system has been installed at 56 junctions in Abu Dhabi city and outskirts and described it as one of the world’s most advanced traffic management systems involving smart applications and ground sensors.

The new system uses in-road sensors to detect the number of vehicles at the intersection and automatically switches between lights depending on the number of cars on the sides of the intersection.

Transport department roads director Faisal Al Suweidi said “This is a very advanced traffic management system and will largely ease traffic congestion in the city…it will also reduce petrol consumption and consequently cut pollution levels in the air.”

Related Content

  • Automating enforcement of environmental zones
    July 27, 2012
    Amsterdam City Council has chosen to move away from manual enforcement of its environmental zone, which is intended to keep highly polluting goods vehicles out of the city centre, and is installing an automated, ANPR-based system. The signs are not much to look at: white with a red circle and the all-important word Milieuzone ('Environmental zone'). But these signs mean that Amsterdam's city centre is strictly off-limits to polluting goods traffic. At the moment compliance is monitored by special wardens wh
  • Ericsson to be the prime integrator for the Brazil’s smart city project
    May 16, 2014
    Ericsson has been chosen by Telefonica Vivo to integrate the smart parking and smart lighting for its digital city project in Aguas de Sao Pedro, Brazil. Collaborating with leading technology partners, Ericsson will be responsible for providing smart lighting and smart parking solutions and system integration. The design, installation and rollout of the project are all included in the scope of the agreement, as is responsibility for managed services, including operations and maintenance, once it has bee
  • Covid-19 cleared the air: ITS can keep it clean
    July 31, 2020
    Covid-19 has created cleaner air: ITS can help keep it that way – but it’s not going to be straightforward, as Graham Anderson discovers
  • Authorities play the parking ticket
    April 10, 2014
    Having long been a cause of contention with their constituents, local authorities are now using parking provision to entice shoppers and reduce congestion. To say that parking, and particularly parking enforcement, is a contentious and emotive issue is something of an understatement. Across the globe the discontentment with parking facilities, charges and enforcement is a major cause of friction between local authorities and the residents, businesses and drivers in the area. Recently there was outrage in