AI reduces the number of bus accidents in Dubai
Marie Donlon | April 29, 2019Source: RTADubai roads have been made safer thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), according to the city’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
As part of a broader effort to enhance the city’s “Smart City and Artificial Intelligence Programme” -- which aims to incorporate AI throughout Dubai -- the city’s RTA is monitoring the well-being of bus drivers in the city using what it calls the Raqeeb System. The system detects an estimated five to eight cases of exhaustion and inattentiveness in city bus drivers each day. So far, officials from the RTA estimate that has resulted in a 65% reduction in the number of fatigue-related accidents in the city. The Raqeeb System has also been incorporated into two of the city’s Dubai Trams on a trial basis.
Other AI transportation projects taking place in Dubai include the addition of 10,000 surveillance cameras in taxi cabs, which have been credited with an 83% increase in customer satisfaction, according to the RTA. The city has also used AI to monitor bus lanes in the city, thereby reducing bus lane violations by 83% and improving bus punctuality in the city by 20%. AI is even being employed to assist new drivers in the city.
"The RTA has also accomplished the smart yard for testing trainee drivers in 14 locations. Driver testing vehicles have been transformed into smart vehicles capable of detecting the testing maneuvers and measuring the driver’s response to each of them,” said Mattar Al Tayer, RTA director general and chairman of the board of executive directors.
“The yard is fitted with high-power cameras and sensors connected to a central processor capable of gathering information and working out errors automatically. The system automatically figures out if the test result is fail or pass.”