Skip to main content

Dubai RTA implementing integrated synchronisation for signalised junctions

The number of signalised junctions in Dubai has increased to 412, most of which are controlled by the Traffic Control System Centres of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA). According to engineer Maitha bin Udai, CEO of RTA's Traffic and Roads Agency, the agency is currently working on an integrated project to synchronise and upgrade databases for 180 main signalised junctions. Some 60 of them will be completed in the current year, and 120 next year, she said, adding that the implementation of the project
July 23, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
The number of signalised junctions in Dubai has increased to 412, most of which are controlled by the Traffic Control System Centres of the 6700 Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

According to engineer Maitha bin Udai, CEO of the RTA's Traffic and Roads Agency, the agency is currently working on an integrated project to synchronise and upgrade databases for 180 main signalised junctions. Some 60 of them will be completed in the current year, and 120 next year, she said, adding that the implementation of the project was in response to recommendations in a traffic study conducted by the RTA to improve the performance of the traffic signals in the emirate. The experimental studies conducted on some junctions in Dubai showed that the trip time dropped by 15 per cent in areas covered by the study and in which synchronisation and database upgrades were undertaken.

"The Agency attends to training engineers and operators of the intelligent traffic systems on a number of traffic plans for synchronising the timing of traffic lights, where such plans may in some junctions reach six different plans for a single traffic light per day, depending on peak hours and frequency of congestion in roads leading to junctions,” said Engineer Maitha. “The Agency also trains them on the latest techniques of signals timings, and methods of linking a number of traffic lights. The RTA is keen that the lapse time for all directions shall not exceed 240 seconds and that the connected traffic signals should not exceed 16 signals," she continued.

In respect of the traffic control centre, Maitha said the capacity of devices operating the signalling system has been upgraded at the control centre in order to manage the current and future of signalised junctions. "The Centre is equipped with the latest version of data analysis system to analyse information transmitted by sensors. The number of surveillance cameras increased to 240 cameras, and the Agency is moving ahead with plans to improve the calibre of traffic services rendered to the public," said Maitha.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Road user charging comes a step closer in Oregon
    December 19, 2017
    Having been the first US state to introduce the gas tax a century ago, Oregon is now blazing the road user charging trail. Colin Sowman looks at progress to date. For more than a decade, authorities in Oregon have known of the impending decline in fuels tax income and while revenue increased by more than 5% in 2016, that growth will slow considerably this year and income is projected to start declining in 2020.
  • Telegra tackle integrated corridor management
    March 29, 2017
    Coordination is the key to successful integrated corridor management, argues Telegra’s chief operating officer, Branko Glad. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) has calculated that in 2013, traffic congestion cost American citizens $124 billion ($78 billion of wasted time and fuel and $45 billion in indirect losses). In 2030 this figure is predicted to rise to $186 billion.
  • Countering congestion’s cost
    May 6, 2015
    A new report on the economic costs of traffic congestion predicts the problem will worsen significantly in future. Jon Masters reviews the figures and some suggested solutions. New figures on the rising economic and environmental costs of congestion have been published by the US traffic data specialist Inrix and the UK’s Centre for Economics & Business Research (Cebr). Their report finds the problem much bigger than previously thought.
  • Substantial savings from smarter street lighting
    February 25, 2015
    As authorities strive to reduce expenditure and carbon emissions, Colin Sowman looks at some of the smart ways of managing street lighting while containing costs and maintaining safety. Street lighting can account for 40% of an authority’s energy consumption. So, faced with the need to reduce outgoings, some authorities are looking for smart ways of managing street lighting or even turning off swathes of street lights in the small hours. Back in 2008 the E-street Initiative report concluded that authorities