Questions/Answers

ABU DHABI POLICE SMART ROAD SAFETY SYSTEM/SMART TOWERS ************************************************************************************** Following on the Abu Dhabi Government’s strategic objective of achieving the Zero-Road-Fatality Target by the Year 2030, the Abu Dhabi Police presented and implemented the SMART Road Safety System/Smart Towers; one of the most important initiatives for enhancement Traffic Safety performances along the road networks of Abu Dhabi Emirate (The capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE)). The initiative provided a solution that involved installation of 45 Smart Towers. The main objective of the initiative is to introduce a sophisticated and integrated system to achieve sustainable traffic safety and reach a level comparable to the best international levels without negatively affecting the levels of security, which is a great challenge, especially considering the diversity of cultures and languages of the UAE population. The system was launched in 2016 with continuous roll out of additional Smart Towers and new/enhanced services ever since. Please see video featuring the Abu Dhabi Police Smart Towers https://www.instagram.com/p/BhGAy6iB2RB/?utm_source=ig_embed

The initiative (Smart Towers) is considered one of the most innovative and advanced technologies being implemented in the region, that is promoting digital transformation in public sector institutions. It promotes digital transformation by combining different systems into one digital platform. All violations, traffic reports, warning messages and other data derived through this initiative is generated and transferred digitally, minimising manual processes, and totally eliminating paper based violation, traffic or security reports submitted by police officers and staff.

The initiative promotes well-being and healthy lives for all people by reducing the number of road fatalities and injuries caused by speeding and bad weather, and through detecting wanted and expired vehicles. Moreover, the initiative strongly contributes to other SDGs: - “Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure” by providing a unique enforcement solution that adds value to Abu Dhabi infrastructure. - “Sustainable cities and communities” since it is based on e-solutions that do not consume paper. Additionally, throughout the Smart Towers manufacturing process, recyclable materials were used, local sourcing of material was encouraged to minimize transportation; and high-energy efficiency lamps were used.

The positive impact of the initiative is not limited to a specific group of people, but it covers all society members including vulnerable people such as older persons, women, and people with disabilities. This is achieved by displaying awareness messages and instructions through the towers’ Variable Message Screens (VMS) such as “congestion ahead”, “crash ahead”, “reduce speed”, “keep safe distance”). Also, instructions related to child safety such as (keep children safely in a proper seat in the back seat, etc) which helps all road users to be aware about safe driving, especially for vulnerable persons. Additionally, implementing speed enforcement and controlling the road speed helps to reduce the risks of dangerous drivers. As well as playing a major role in protecting road users’ lives, VMS screens can also be used to raise awareness for social and international issues related to vulnerable people such as International Woman Day, Cancer Awareness, Children Day, etc.

The safety and security technologies used in the Smart Towers are considered the most advanced and are integrated together into one smart platform. The Smart Towers are connected digitally to a state-of-the-art Smart Traffic Centre which is equipped with the latest modern equipment and technologies. This innovative solution makes it much easier to achieve various tasks instantly and simultaneously, including but not limited to: - Speed Limit Enforcement - Expired/Wanted Vehicle Violations detection - Displaying messages, instructions, and cautions to drivers - Live monitoring of traffic and weather conditions - Providing live traffic data to the Smart Traffic Centre

The initiative is considered original and the first of its kind in the UAE. It exceeds the traditional concept of using gantries with VMS screens only. The Smart Tower consists of an overhead gantry equipped with cameras, radar, weather sensors, CCTV, along with the VMS screen, all connected to create one main platform that can control these systems remotely from the Smart Traffic Centre.

Since the initiative has achieved great success and enabled multiple traffic and security objectives, the solution has been presented to several government authorities within the UAE (Ministry of Infrastructure Development, Ras Al Khaimah Police GHQ, and Sharjah Police GHQ) and the governments of other countries (Egypt and Morocco). In all these situations, the concept, technology and implementation are directly transferable, enabling similar benefits to be achieved in other contexts.

- Financial resources (Project costs that exceeded AED 150,000,000) - Human resources (More than 100 technical Staff and manpower were involved in this project) - Technology (Speed radars, weather stations, CCTV, wireless network)

The initiative helps to maintain traffic safety and the security of society by monitoring speeding drivers, detecting wanted/expired vehicles, detecting dangerous weather conditions and providing awareness and warning messages for road users. Protecting road users in this way contributes strongly to making Abu Dhabi one of the safest cities in the world. Economically, the use of speed radars fixed in Smart Towers helps to minimize road crashes and the subsequent economic and social losses associated with road fatalities and injuries. As a secondary consideration, the revenue generated through fines issued for traffic violations, can be used to fund further development of this and other road safety initiatives. As such, the initiative is largely self-funding. From an environmental perspective, having a complete, integrated electronic solution to perform all the required tasks results in a huge reduction in paper waste. The system generates and transfers all the data and reports digitally with no need to fill papers manually by police officers as in traditional enforcement systems.

Yes

Evaluation is an important process in developing and managing any traffic safety program. In terms of the Abu Dhabi Smart Towers initiative, the desired outcome is evaluated, internally, based on several indicators to check the impacts of implementing the Smart Towers solution. Additionally, since one of the objectives of Abu Dhabi Police initiative is to increase the traffic safety culture, the evaluation studied the impact of the initiative on the traffic safety awareness of the society.

The following indicators were used to evaluate the initiative: 1. Number of Traffic Crash Fatalities (along the roads where Smart Towers were installed) before and after Smart Towers installation. 2. Number of Traffic Crash Serious Injuries (along the roads where Smart Towers were installed) before and after Smart Towers installation. 3. Number of Severe Traffic Crashes (along the roads where Smart Towers were installed) before and after Smart Towers installation.

The outcome of the evaluation successfully marked the positive impact of the initiative in achieving its goals by obtaining the following results for roads where the Smart Towers were installed: 1. Number of Traffic Crash Fatalities has decreased to 6 after Smart Towers installation (2016), compared to 18 before installation (2014). (66.7% decrement) 2. Number of Traffic Crash Serious Injuries has decreased to 5 after Smart Towers installation (2016), compared to 11 before installation (2014). (54.6% decrement) 3. Number of Severe Traffic Crashes has decreased to 34 after Smart Towers installation (2016), compared to 129 before installation (2014). (73.6% decrement)

Abu Dhabi Police is keen on implementing the relationship management methodology with partners in a comprehensive and systematic manner by supporting partnerships with many public and private engineering departments and authorities concerned with traffic safety, because it believes that traffic safety is a shared community responsibility and a public health problem that must be managed and improved by all. Since this initiative was implemented on the main roads of Abu Dhabi, continuous coordination between the main stakeholders was necessary. The stakeholders were engaged in the initiative from the beginning and during the design stage of the project. In addition to Abu Dhabi Police, stakeholders such as Department of Transportation, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Etisalat, Abu Dhabi Distribution Company, and others, were heavily involved in this initiative, and their role included coordination with Abu Dhabi Police in choosing the location of the Smart Towers, providing permanent power lines, providing telecommunication network requirements, land allocation, etc.

Many lessons were learned including: - Continuous coordination and collaboration between stakeholders is an essential part for any successful project. - ITS systems play a major role in improving the traffic safety & Security, and traffic flow. - The combination of different technologies in one platform adds benefits for both safety &security aspect, and environmental sustainability. - The current solution is scalable and applicable for more improvements in the future. Further technologies and systems could be added to achieve more safety objectives. The technologies used in the systems are of international standards that can adapt with technology updates and evolutions.