Qatar Transportation and Traffic Safety Centre (QTTSC), formerly Qatar Road Safety Studies Centre, and the International Centre for Urban Safety Engineering (ICUS) at the University of Tokyo have signed an agreement to collaborate on mutual research programmes and initiatives related to urban safety.
QTTSC is run by Qatar University’s College of Engineering.
The agreement was signed by Qatar University’s College of Engineering dean Dr Khalifa al-Khalifa, and ICUS director Kimiro Meguro. A QTTSC team led by assistant professor Dr Wael Alhajyassen visited the Traffic Control Centre of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department that manages 17,000 signalised intersections and is considered one of the world’s largest and most advanced traffic
control centres.
They attended an introductory seminar on Japan’s traffic management systems and were given insights into the country’s smart traffic data collection techniques and application. They also learned about the control centre’s traffic data collection from around 20,000 ultrasonic counters and 300 cameras for live streaming of traffic conditions, and about its traffic congestion mitigation schemes that will be implemented for the Tokyo
Olympiad 2020.
Dr al-Khalifa said the initiative underlines the college’s commitment to finding solutions for the challenges of traffic safety that the Qatari community faces, and to strengthening relations with ICUS for further collaboration on research and development in line with the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.
“Learning about Japan’s plans for traffic congestion management during the Olympiad 2020 has given us insights into planning for future large international events in Qatar such as FIFA World Cup 2022.”
QTTSC signs pact
Dr Wael Alhajyaseen presenting a memento to Prof Kimiro Meguro as associate professor Miho Iryo-Asano looks on.
