Traffic Tech Gulf

18 February 2014

Traffic Tech (Gulf) recently completed Qatar's first fully intergrated Emergency Vehicle Preemption System (EVPS), a design-build project commissioned by the Qatar Public Works Authority, Ashghal. The EVPS is a GPS based system that allows traffic signals at intersections to give green light to an approaching vehicle that is equipped with a preemption transmitter.

The EVPS has been initially installed at critical junctions across Doha, including 25 intersections and 5 roundabouts, while 15 ambulances and 10 vehicles from the Civil Defence are fitted with transmitters. These numbers are expected to increase in the coming months once expansion of the project commences. Further, the EVPS is integrated into Doha’s SCATS Urban Traffic Control System, and is monitored from Ashghal’s Traffic Control Center in West Bay.

Press Conference

The project received wide media coverage at a press conference held at the Ashghal Headquarters. Senior representatives from Ashghal including Eng. Hamad Al Tamimi, Director of Assets Affairs, Eng. Yousef Al-Emadi, Manager of Roads Operation and Maintenance, and Eng. Abdul Aziz Al-Sada, Head of Safety & Traffic Control Section, as well as representatives from the Hamad Medical Corporation and the General Directorate of Civil Defence, attended the conference.

In a press release issued in Ashghal’s website (www.ashghal.gov.qa), Eng. Yousef Al-Emadi said, “the EVPS system will reduce significantly the response time, and reduce the risks of accidents as the ambulance or Civil Defence car drivers will press a button on the remote control to open the traffic light on their way; and thus, ease the traffic flow ahead of them”.

While Eng. Abdul Aziz Al-Sada confirmed that the new system will help streamline traffic on the road. “The safety of traffic flow is taken into account, as the rest of the traffic signals in the intersection will turn red before opening the way for the Civil Defence cars and ambulances, through the sensors mounted in emergency cars and traffic lights”, he comments.

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