Dubai: All of Dubai’s traffic lights are now connected to a central traffic control centre using wireless technology that helps synchronise traffic flow, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced on Monday.
Dubai has more than 800 big and small signalised traffic junctions that were being connected to the central traffic control centre over the last couple of years.
Previously, traffic lights were controlled through hired telephone lines.
The transformation will enable better management of traffic congestion at junctions as per the changing traffic patterns.
The transformation was done in phases and according to RTA, the last 400 traffic junctions have been successfully connected using 3G technology, while isolated signals have been connected via wireless systems, and cable-connected signals have been switched to a wireless network.
The project is part of the Smart City initiative.
Eng Maitha Mohammad Bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said that the new system has high usability and efficiency, and can be easily maintained.
“It eliminates the lag in the timing of traffic signals, and is considered cost-efficient compared to the previous situation, which required an intensive infrastructure in terms of cables, telephone lines to run the service near each signaling unit,” she added.
The benefits of the new system include remotely controlling the timing of traffic signals and managing them to cope with the changes in the traffic flow, which translates into less congestions at intersections.
