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Accident statistics in the Middle East make for horrific reading but as Kate Mitchell explains, the region’s governments have recognised that it’s high time that they made sure their roads are a far safer place to be

Life skills

Speed Enforcement

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There is no doubting the Middle East region has experienced significant economic growth over the last decade. As a result, there

has been a large increase in automobile ownership and a rapidly expanding road network. With this positive growth, an associated increase in road accidents and fatalities has followed. The Middle East is now recognised as one of the most dangerous places in the world to drive, with its countries having some of the highest road death tolls in the world. To put this into perspective, The World Health Organisation has found that there are 49 road accident deaths per 100,000 people monthly in Saudi Arabia alone. In the United Arab Emirates 37 road accident deaths per 100,000 occur monthly. Compare this to the United Kingdom with eight fatalities per month, and Australia with only five. The need for action in the Middle East is clearly apparent.

The General Directorate of Traffic, in Saudi Arabia, has reported that an average of 17 people die on the roads of Saudi Arabia every day. Road accidents are now the number one cause of death for

Life skills

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Saudi males aged 16 to 36. Over the past two decades Saudi Arabia has recorded 4 million traffic accidents, resulting in a staggering 86,000 deaths and 611,000 injuries. A study at the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) by a Riyadh-based scientific research group, warned that if the current rise in road accident rates was not reduced, Saudi Arabia would have over 4 million traffic accidents a year by 2030.

EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH AN EGovernments across the Middle East have recognised the need for change in driver behaviour and the importance of a holistic approach to road safety. The three E’s play an important role in the development of a successful road safety program – engineering of roads and infrastructure, education of drivers and the enforcement of road traffic laws.

To counter such a large problem, the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Interior embarked on the Automatic Traffic Violations Administering and Monitoring (ATVAM) project. This visionary traffic program incorporates traffic management, security systems and photo enforcement to change driver behaviour. When it came to the photo enforcement component of this project, the Ministry took an outsourcing approach, utilising the experience and expertise of an external provider to ensure maximum program success. Redflex Traffic Systems were engaged to provide the services and technology for the automated enforcement program, known locally as Saher. One of the key objectives of Saher is to utilise the latest and most advanced technology in the field of ITS in order to create a safe traffic environment.

Saher is still in its infancy, commencing on 1 January 2011, but already the impact is extremely positive. In the first 47 days of

operation, there was a staggering 144,028 incidents of speeding captured by the mobile speed cameras. Alarmingly, 10,287 of these incidents (around 7 per cent) involved vehicles travelling at speeds in excess of 40km per hour over the posted speed limit. 16,078 incidents (11 per cent) involved vehicles travelling at speeds between 30 to 40 km per hour over the posted speed limit. Awareness of the Saher program continues to increase across Saudi Arabia as the education campaign is rolled out through local media. It is proven in similar contracts throughout the world that these incident detection rates will decrease as drivers become more educated, therefore reducing the speed in which they travel.

The Eastern Province has had the highest number of detections but there are already signs of a change in driver behaviour in this region. The Arab News newspaper has reported an 18.9 per cent decline in the number of road deaths in the Eastern Province. Injuries in road-related accidents have dropped 30.4 per cent following the implementation of Saher. The Saudi Gazette newspaper has reported that the accident rate in Tabuk has dropped by 63 per cent.

SLOW DOWN TO SPEED UPIn Abu Dhabi, the fight against the ever-increasing road accident toll has commenced. A contract has been signed with Redflex for over 500 camera systems and a large-scale enterprise back office to support the camera network. The Abu Dhabi Police have followed the worldwide trend towards the use of point-to-point average speed systems, with a total of 60 systems to be installed across the country. This innovative technology will counter the tendency of Middle Eastern drivers to slow down for a fixed speed camera, and

then speed up once they are past the point, otherwise known as surfing.

Average speed systems work by capturing a time stamped image of a vehicle at one point, then taking another time stamped image, of the same vehicle, at another point further along the road. Optical character recognition is utilised by a central server to match the images and determine the average vehicle speed. This is then compared to the time it takes to travel from point A to point B, at the legal speed, to determine if the vehicle has been speeding along that stretch of road.

Whereas traditional fixed enforcement applies to one point, this type of enforcement can be set up along large dangerous stretches of road, which in turn, slows drivers down and changes behaviour over a number of kilometres. The Redflex systems in Abu Dhabi will have a newly designed enclosure, utilise radar technology and be powered by solar power, enabling the systems to function optimally in harsh environmental conditions.

As the Saher program in Saudi Arabia starts to mature with a significant decline in fatalities through education, investment in infrastructure and enforcement, we look forward to the impact of a sophisticated enforcement programme throughout Abu Dhabi and the world as governments call for action against the alarming numbers of fatalities and cost to society on a global scale.

“There are 49 road accident deaths per 100,000 people monthly in Saudi Arabia, compared to just five in Australia”

Average speed systems are instrumental in drivers curbing their speeds over greater distances

Kate Mitchell is sales and marketing co-ordinator for Redflex Traffic Systems

katem@redflex.com.au

www.redflex.comtwitter.com/redflexsafety

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Mohammed Serroukh on how ITS is gaining recognition and coming to prominence in the Middle East

Able to enable

FOCUS: MIDDLE EAST

ITS Deployment

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The Arab region is continuing to enjoy major investment in transport infrastructure across all modes of transport. Whilst this policy

will continue for some time, there is a growing recognition that Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) will play a major role in achieving an efficient and safe management of our transport network.

It is also recognized that ITS covers a diverse range of technologies capable of supporting a number of other policies including security, environmental and e-Government policies. This is clearly an added advantage but not without its challenges, such as the institutional interfaces required to achieve the full benefits from ITS.

The detailed policies driving ITS deployment naturally vary from country to country across the Arab region; however the priorities for the road network are common and include tackling growing traffic congestion and reducing traffic-related injuries. This means safety-related systems, adaptive traffic control and public traffic information systems are identified as some of the short-term priorities.

Expanding the deployments of existing ITS systems is always easier, especially when the benefits are already well understood. However, with the exception of a few Arab countries ITS is neither an existing system nor well understood. At one end of the scale there are a number of decision-makers who want to understand the benefits of the related ITS components prior to initiating new major ITS deployments and at the other end of the scale there are fewer decision-makers who have the view that ITS is a largely proven technology that should be deployed immediately and therefore any studies should be focused on real deployment decisions rather than discussion reports.

In practical terms the approaches from both ends of the scale are valid.

For example, the deployment of adaptive traffic control to achieve the maximum efficiency of our existing road network and the provision of basic real-time traffic information to travellers either automatically or via control room co-ordinations should be deployed immediately. Advanced integrated ITS services require detailed studies with close cooperation from all the transport stakeholders to avoid potential integration issues that could delay the realization of some of the more advanced ITS services.

WIDE-SCALE ITS DEPLOYMENTA number of stakeholders, including Ministries of Transport, Traffic Police, Municipalities and Regional Authorities across the Arab region, are either already in the process of or are planning ITS studies that will enable wide-scale deployments. ITS-Arab’s role in enabling these deployments is actually very similar to that of other ITS Associations around the world, which is largely to promote a better understanding of ITS solutions and services, while promoting the public-private cooperation that helps both sectors invest in ITS with confidence.

As part of enabling the wide-scale ITS deployments, it is also recognized that guidelines, specifications and standards are to be published by ITS-Arab. This will provide a wider acceptance across the Arab world than other publications from individual public or private organizations. The reasons are obvious and include the open consultation process involving public and private stakeholders. Other reasons include the consolidation of international state-of-the-art solutions and best practice with the confidence that Arab regional requirements are taken into account.

Naturally, we recognize that it is not possible to develop guidelines and specifications that meet the exact requirements of every stakeholder in the Arab world, but that is not the primary

objective because clearly most ITS projects will require a consultant to customize specifications for specific projects.

SPECIFICATIONS DEVELOPMENTITS-Arab currently has two committees tackling the development of ITS specifications and standards: ITS Architecture Committee chaired by Eng. Steve George, SG Transport Innovation Ltd, United Kingdom; and ITS Standards Committee chaired by Dr. Bashar Al-Malik, Ministry of Transport, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The committees are working side-by-side to facilitate the end objective of preparing a set of interoperable technical specifications.

The planned activities have been designed to be reiterative to allow fast tracking of urgently required specifications. The process is based on a modular approach to meet the needs of both the government and the private sectors. This means the government sector is influencing the priorities and the private sector will see a modular buildup that avoids radical changes.

A number of parallel studies were also commissioned. The studies are providing the detailed stakeholders aspirations, user requirements and the proposed solutions from various perspectives. The committees support team is now entering the phase of consolidating the vast amount of data gathered from both the local and the international experiences. Once the agreed deliverables are approved, they will be uploaded on the ITS-Arab website for public consultation.

“With the exception of a few Arab countries ITS is neither an existing system nor well understood”

Mohammed Serroukh is Director General of ITS-Arab

info@itss-arab.org

www.its-arab.org

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Zeina Nazer looks at the increased emphasis being placed on transportation infrastructure safety and security in the Middle East

Making a difference Public and private investment in

Middle Eastern transportation infrastructure safety and security is setting a new pace in the global market. The

region is well poised to not only overcome many unique problems, but to become a global leader for innovative techniques and leading-edge technologies for

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) as well as Homeland Security needs.

In the Gulf, there are several reasons why the region has the highest number of traffic-related injuries and fatalities per capita worldwide. They include the harsh desert climates, frequent sand and dust storms limiting visibility and a large number of roundabouts, a situation

exacerbated by poor driver training, limited manpower and resources for traffic enforcement, and the fact that pedestrians are not given right-of-way according to international traffic standards.

IN A ROUNDABOUT WAYWhile faced with this unique set of problems, a number of progressive ITS

The Tower Clock Roundabout in downtown Dubai. Hazardous roundabouts may be replaced with fully actuated and coordinated arterials

ITS Deployment

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Zeina Nazer looks at the increased emphasis being placed on transportation infrastructure safety and security in the Middle East

“The major increase in vehicular traffic and population has resulted in complete traffic saturation and gridlock in many cities during peak travel hours”

and law enforcement leaders in the region have developed several projects to enhance safety and security for motorists and pedestrians alike.

Many Middle Eastern regions and cities are now, or will soon become, global models for advanced ITS, security and safety system design and deployment. Such technologies include video vehicle

detection, automated traffic data collection and classification, photo citation, fully actuated intersections and the removal of hazardous roundabouts and their replacement with high-efficiency fully actuated and coordinated arterials.

Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, deployed “adaptive” traffic management systems several years ago, but the major increase in vehicular traffic and population has resulted in complete traffic saturation and gridlock in many cities during peak travel hours. It is clear that different “adaptive” systems or a “demand-responsive” traffic management system needs to be deployed in medium and large cities throughout the region to move traffic more efficiently and safely, as traffic technology has not yet been able to effectively deal with the rapid growth in population and vehicles.

While several Transport Authorities have developed Intelligent Transport Systems Master Plans, taking into consideration definitive safety measures, there is still a lack of cooperation among local, regional and national law enforcement agencies, as well as military authorities, to share common CCTV video feeds and real-time traffic data resources in a common command and control system/database to maximize transportation infrastructure security and safety.

OPEN OPTIONSThere are many criteria that transport authorities in the Middle East should consider when selecting an ITS solution to help improve safety and security. Since ITS solutions are constantly evolving, it is vital to base all system designs on standardized products with proven performance and to require open and standardized system interfaces. The transport authorities in the region are following global standards so there is room for open competition on a later stage.

The Middle East is rapidly becoming a

cultural melting pot of global nationalities, cultures, religions and widely diverse demographics and psychographics. Still, though, the region has a lot to learn from the initiatives that already seen the light of day in Europe and the rest of the world when it comes to advancement in roads safety and security.

There are many solutions readily available to effectively deal with the traffic problems facing the region but the primary challenge is to open minds to new ways of thinking, communicating, cooperating and instilling a willingness to just try something different.

Crucially, there is abundant project funding available in the Middle East for traffic consultants, system integrators and equipment manufacturers.

Traffic passes the iconic Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai. It is hoped that ITS solutions can bring increased safety and security for the region which poses unique problems

Zeina Nazer is Managing Director of Innova Consulting based in London

www.innovaconsulting.co.uk

zeina@innovaconsulting.co.uk

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