X

Select your currency

Suggested for you
  • IN Indian Rupee
    INR
  • GB Pound Sterling
    GBP
  • AE UAE Dirham
    AED
  • US US Dollar
    USD
All currency
  • DZ Algerian Dinar
    DZD
  • AO Angolan Kwanza
    AOA
  • AR Argentine Pesos
    ARS
  • AM Armenian Dram
    AMD
  • AW Aruban Florin
    AWG
  • AT Australian Dollar
    AUD
  • AZ Azerbaijani Manat
    AZN
  • BH Bahraini Dinar
    BHD
  • TH Baht
    THB
  • PA Balboa
    PAB
  • BD Bangladeshi Taka
    BDT
  • BY Belarusian Rubles
    BYR
  • BZ Belize Dollars
    BZD
  • BM Bermuda Dollars
    BMD
  • BT Bhutanese ngultrum
    BTN
  • VE Bolivares Fuertes
    VEF
  • BR Brazilian Reais
    BRL
  • BI Burundian Franc
    BIF
  • KH Cambodian Riels
    KHR
  • CA Canadian Dollar
    CAD
  • GA Central African CFA franc
    XAF
  • CL Chilean Pesos
    CLP
  • CO Colombian Pesos
    COP
  • CR Colón
    CRC
  • CD Congolese Franc
    CDF
  • CU Cuban Pesos
    CUP
  • DK Danish Krone
    DKK
  • MK Denars
    MKD
  • DJ Djiboutian Franc
    DJF
  • DO Dominican Pesos
    DOP
  • VN Dong
    VND
  • AG East Caribbean Dollars
    XCD
  • EG Egyptian Pounds
    EGP
  • ET Ethiopian Birr
    ETB
  • ES Euro
    EUR
  • HU Forint
    HUF
  • GE Georgian Lari
    GEL
  • GH Ghanaian Cedi
    GHS
  • PY Guarani
    PYG
  • GN Guinean Franc
    GNF
  • GY Guyanese Dollars
    GYD
  • HK Hong Kong Dollars
    HKD
  • UA Hryvnia
    UAH
  • IS Icelandic Krona
    ISK
  • IN Indian Rupee
    INR
  • ID Indonesian Rupiahs
    IDR
  • IR Iranian Rials
    IRR
  • JO Jordanian Dinar
    JOD
  • KE Kenyan Shilling
    KES
  • LA Kips
    LAK
  • CZ Koruny
    CZK
  • NO Krone
    NOK
  • HR Kuna
    HRK
  • KW Kuwaiti Dinar
    KWD
  • LV Lati
    LVL
  • LB Lebanese Pounds
    LBP
  • BG Leva
    BGN
  • LY Libyan Dinar
    LYD
  • TR Lira
    TRY
  • LT Litai
    LTL
  • MG Malagasy Ariary
    MGA
  • MW Malawian Kwacha
    MWK
  • MV Maldivian Rufiyaa
    MVR
  • MX Mexican Pesos
    MXN
  • MD Moldovan Leu
    MDL
  • MA Moroccan Dirham
    MAD
  • MM Myanmar Kyat
    MMK
  • NG Nairas
    NGN
  • NA Namibian Dollars
    NAD
  • NP Nepali Rupee
    NPR
  • TW New Dollars
    TWD
  • RO New Lei
    RON
  • IL New Shekels
    ILS
  • NZ New Zealand Dollars
    NZD
  • PE Nuevos Soles
    PEN
  • OM Omani Rial
    OMR
  • PK Pakistani Rupees
    PKR
  • PG Papua New Guinean Kina
    PGK
  • PH Philippine peso
    PHP
  • GB Pound Sterling
    GBP
  • BW Pula
    BWP
  • QA Qatari Rials
    QAR
  • GT Quetzales
    GTQ
  • ZA Rand
    ZAR
  • MY Ringgits
    MYR
  • RU Russian Rubles
    RUB
  • RW Rwandan Franc
    RWF
  • SA Saudi Riyals
    SAR
  • SG Singapore Dollars
    SGD
  • KG Soms
    KGS
  • KR South Korean Won
    KRW
  • SH St. Helena Pounds
    SHP
  • SD Sudanese pound
    SDG
  • UZ Sums
    UZS
  • SE Swedish Krona
    SEK
  • CH Switzerland Francs
    CHF
  • SY Syrian Pounds
    SYP
  • TJ Tajikistani Somoni
    TJS
  • TZ Tanzanian Shilling
    TZS
  • KZ Tenge
    KZT
  • MN Tugriks
    MNT
  • TN Tunisian Dinar
    TND
  • AE UAE Dirham
    AED
  • UG Ugandan Shilling
    UGX
  • UY Uruguayo Pesos
    UYU
  • US US Dollar
    USD
  • TG West African CFA franc
    XOF
  • YE Yemeni Rials
    YER
  • JP Yen
    JPY
  • ZM Zambian Kwacha
    ZMW
  • PL Zlotych
    PLN
  • USA
    Select Currency

New Details

UAE: How Residents Can Enjoy Low Summer Traffic All Year Round

Published on : 02-08-2024

UAE: How Residents Can Enjoy Low Summer Traffic All Year Round

With schools closed and many residents travelling abroad for holidays, motorists enjoy the reduced commute time in the summer.

Summer runs undoubtedly contribute to urban traffic congestion. Since schools are closed and many residents are abroad for summer holidays, motorists enjoy reduced commute time. Some lessons can be drawn here to understand the changes in traffic flows on school days and holidays. Dr Monica Menendez, associate dean of Engineering for Graduate Affairs at New York University Abu Dhabi, noted: "Having traffic fluctuations that follow school patterns is typical everywhere across the world. When school is on, traffic tends to be worse than when school is off and kids are on vacation.

This is also true on weekends, when traffic patterns change, as most people do not commute to work.

"In the UAE, the positive effect of the school holidays is even more pronounced during summer since many leave the country. The result is congestion goes down prominently, travel times drop and moving around some typically congested areas of the city becomes a breeze," she added. The NYUAD professor of Civil and Urban Engineering "Maintaining these low traffic levels all year round is very hard once people come back into the country and kids start normal school." "As school opening times in the morning tend to be very similar around the city, most families with kids must commute simultaneously. This is compounded by many people having a similar working schedule, which can lead to a lot of traffic.

 Explore flexible working hours.

Dr Menendez suggested exploring the potential impact of flexible working hours and remote working arrangements. "Encouraging this additional flexibility could alleviate congestion; it would spread the traffic peaks so that the avails;e road capacity is used more efficiently in a day." For instance, Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority is surveying to explore the potential impact of flexible working hours and remote working arrangements."

 Using big data to predict traffic

Another solution suggested by the NYUAD professor, the director of the Research Center for Interacting with Urban Networks, is using big data for traffic management. She said, "With all the data generated across multiple devices, it is now possible to predict traffic much better than before." A study that DR Menendez and her colleagues published has shown that urban mobility patterns at the aggregate level are quite reproducible daily. The patterns could help transportation authorities to be more proactive regarding managing traffic and reducing the likelihood of traffic congestion," she said. Emirati traffic safety researcher Dr Mostafa Al Dah said AI and other predictive solutions can give solutions to mitigate.

 Out-of-the-box solutions

Al Dah said the data could be used to create a trend regarding the number of people who leave or do not use the roads during the summer. "Then we can have better traffic mitigation and come up without-of-the-box solutions." For example, one solution can be to incentivise people who would stay off the road at certain times of the day to minimise the number of cars on the streets, noted Al Dah, also the founder of MA Traffic Consulting. Another solution is enhancing pedestrian friend infrastructure and implementing safety education to encourage commuting options or public transportation. Homeschooling can also be encouraged, added Al Dah, noting, "It is counter-productive for students to spend two hours daily on the road going to and from school." Adjusting daily routines, such as flexible work and school time, is another solution to alleviate traffic congestion.

 More solutions

Urban planner and architect Aileen Liagas said, "It may seem tough to reduce traffic congestion, but there are strategies to control and lessen its severity." She gave some suggestions-

Upgrade and expand road infrastructure to handle increased traffic volumes more efficiently and allocate parking areas strategically.

Improve traffic management using real-time traffic monitoring and intelligent traffic signal systems to optimise traffic flow and reduce wait times at intersections.

Try implementing minimal congestion charges to discourage driving during peak hours. Congestion charges, intended to reduce traffic, refer to money motorists must pay to drive in areas of the city.

Encourage carpooling and the use of school buses. Students and residents would reduce their reliance on individual cars by creating high-occupancy vehicle lanes. Adopt flexible schedules for businesses and schools by applying online classes, remote working, and staggered start times to lessen peak hour traffic and reduce commuters.

Creating high-occupancy vehicle lanes to encourage carpooling and using school buses would reduce students' and residents' reliance on individual cars. Businesses and schools could adopt flexible schedules by offering online classes, remote work, and staggered start times to reduce commuters and peak-hour traffic.

The most famous among sustainability advocates is encouraging the use of alternative modes of transportation, such as public buses, trains, bicycles, and walking.

Be the solution

Llagas reiterated, "Innovations and intelligent technologies are now being used to solve traffic congestion challenges. We need suitable programmes and public awareness campaigns for a more efficient transportation system even during peak hours when classes resume and people return from vacation." She said, "I always check the real-time traffic situation and plan my trip ahead of time by using alternative routes and avoiding highly congested areas. While waiting for all the major changes, let us not be part of the problem but rather the solution."

#dubainews #dubaiupdate #dubailocals #lifestyle #waysofliving #uaenews 

News Source : Khaleej Times

Subscribe for
Offers • Deals • Newsletters