By Mohamed Radwan
The Ministries of Communications and Transportation plan to restructure the transportation system in Egypt by launching an Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) in a number of Egyptian governorates. Preliminary cost estimates put the project at EGP 1 billion to be implemented over two phases.
A Ministry of Communications official said that the Ministry has finalised an experimental project to establish an ITS in Alexandria in coordination with the Ministries of Transportation and Interior.
He added that the two ministries appointed a committee to prepare a booklet with the tender’s rules and regulations to be distributed among competing companies. In addition, ITS will be made possible via a smart transportation system to manage and monitor all roads inside and outside the governorates, hopefully leading to improved transportation and traffic management.
“A number of high-tech surveillance monitors will be installed in all operation rooms,” he commented, “Cameras will record around the clock and will be installed on all centres, highways, main roads, and vital and historic establishments all around the governorate.”
The operation rooms will operate under the Ministry of Interior and will be provided with “video call” systems to facilitate control and monitoring. The operation rooms will also be technologically linked to all mobile and fixed checkpoints, in addition to connecting them to a database that is being currently updated by the National Security Authority.
All operation rooms in the country will be interlinked for a tight control over road networks and traffic routes.
As well as improving traffic flow, restructuring traffic has the potential to save the Government great amounts of fuel and reduce green house gas emissions.