Development And Expansion Of Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) Coverage — Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Client
Clients
  • Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)
Project Value
Values

AED 900,000,000

Market
Market

Transportation

Services
Values

Engineering, Program/Construction Management (PM/CM)

In line with its Vision Statement to become “The world leader in seamless & sustainable mobility,” the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has embarked on the second phase of expanding Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) coverage across Dubai’s road network, which includes establishing the Dubai Intelligent Traffic Systems Center (DITSC). This initiative aims to enhance personal mobility, travel safety, and traffic management, while reducing congestion and travel demand. Currently covering 60% of the emirate’s main roads, the program plans to extend this to 100%, increasing the network from 480 km (298.26 mi) to 710 km (441.17 mi). This expansion, the largest of its kind on Dubai’s main highways (E&D Roads), is expected to decrease congestion, travel time, fuel consumption, and emissions, thereby improving the overall quality of life.

Our Role In Establishing The Dubai Intelligent Traffic Systems Center (DITSC)

In the early stages, the project established the Dubai Intelligent Traffic Systems Center (DITSC) at Al Barsha, one of the world’s largest and most sophisticated traffic control centers. The center uses innovative technologies and traffic management systems to support Dubai’s growth, making it a global leader in Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) by incorporating sustainability and AI.

So far, the project has improved incident monitoring by 63%, reduced response times by 30%, enhanced traffic flow, increased traffic management efficiency, and reduced journey times by 20% through Variable Message Signs (VMS). These improvements have led to better safety, enhanced traffic management, and an overall better quality of life.

The predictive modeling module of the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), designed by Parsons, allows RTA to execute the following:

  • Perform continuous traffic prediction modeling.
  • Develop incident response predictions.
  • Microscopic and mesoscopic level simulations.
  • Integrate with third-party traffic prediction engines (PTV-VISSIM, VISSUM, OPTIMA).
  • Estimate the travel time for major roadway segments.
  • Compute travel time using various inputs, such as Bluetooth, roadway vehicle detection (RVDs), and crowd-sourced data.
  • Provide specialized failure management algorithms (triggers) used to determine when speed data is of sufficient quality before travel times are displayed.

Transforming Dubai’s Roadways: Comprehensive ITS Expansion And Innovation

The ITS2020 system is designed to be future-proof, incorporating capabilities for upcoming developments in transportation. This includes Artificial Intelligence Integration, Cooperative ITS (C-ITS/V2X), V2V (Vehicle-to-Vehicle), V2I (Vehicle-to-Infrastructure), Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS), smartphone applications, and the deployment of autonomous vehicles. These features ensure the system remains at the forefront of global traffic management systems in the coming years.

A key aspect of Parsons’ innovative design is the system’s capabilities for future expansion and technologies. The ITS2020 system is fully configured for integration with the following technologies in the future:

  • Connected vehicles: The system keeps pace with the rapid advances in connected vehicles, including V2V and V2I communications technologies.
  • Shifts in mobility preferences: There is a major shift by commuters towards using smartphone apps for transport and travel.
  • Emergence of autonomous vehicles: Autonomous vehicles are no longer science fiction and will soon become mainstream and widely adopted.

The project extends the major freeway and arterial roadways’ monitoring and control coverage to 100%; providing enhanced ATMS and traveler information for any major event, travel time information and enhanced incident management throughout the roadway network.

Addressing Traffic Congestion In Dubai: The ITS2020 Project

Managing traffic congestion in Dubai is of utmost importance to the RTA, an Intelligent Traffic System (ITS) capable of tacking congestion and monitoring road traffic and incidents efficiently is essential. As part of the ITS2020 project Parsons provides comprehensive consultancy services including thorough studies and effective traffic management solutions, securing necessary design approvals from stakeholders, and pre-qualifying potential contractors while managing the tendering process for the ITS expansion in Dubai.

Parsons is responsible for performing preliminary studies to assess current conditions, benchmarking Dubai’s ITS against those of seven leading cities worldwide, developing a strategic roadmap for ITS deployment, providing preliminary and final designs for ITS, and offering consultancy services throughout the tender stage.

DITSC: A Model of Sustainable Data Center Design

The DITSC building, designed by Parsons, utilizes LED lighting throughout and harnesses solar energy for water heating. The control room is designed to maximize natural light, eliminating the need for artificial lighting during the day. All lighting systems incorporate automatic motion detection technology to minimize energy usage. A Cold Aisle Containment (CAC) system is employed at the data center to optimize the efficiency of cooling systems. Additionally, an integrated data center monitoring system is used to monitor power and temperature within the building, allowing for necessary adjustments based on environmental conditions.

A virtualized server environment provides flexible server resource allocation based on application needs, optimizing both power and server resources. Traffic Managers and Load Balancers (LTM and GTM) enhance availability and network resource utilization. Where economically feasible, solar power is used to drive field devices in remote areas.

The state-of-the-art ATMS and the building housing it are considered world-class, setting a benchmark for traffic management systems globally.

Project Scope

  • ITS Strategic Roadmap
  • Systems Engineering
  • Preliminary Study
  • Design
  • Construction Supervision
Learn More

We’ve not only imagined the future of transportation—we’ve realized it. As industry leaders, we provide advanced traffic management systems (ATMS) and other intelligent transportation solutions (ITS). With over 100 cutting-edge global deployments, our systems have connected more than 63,000 devices. This includes more than 12,000 traffic signals that monitor, manage, and control the efficiency and safety of the world’s roads. Learn more.

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