Abu Dhabi Press News

Dubai, UAE, 13 December, 2011:  The Gulf Traffic Awards have celebrated and recognised the best in the region in road infrastructure and transport at a gala dinner attended by road, rail, parking and public transport professionals.

Abu Dhabi Municipality were the standout winners of the evening, taking home two awards – the first for their ‘flashing green lights’ project in the Changing Driver Behaviour for Road Safety category, which warns drivers at traffic lights when traffic signals are about to change.

Their second award was in the Green Initiative category for their ‘Salam Street Public Realm Sustainability’ project – a new stretch of road in the capital for vehicles and pedestrians that has the capacity to carry 12,000 vehicles per hour, easing traffic congestion and cutting down emissions from vehicle exhaust.

Sharing the award in this category was RUUD Lighting, for supplying the ‘LED Luminaires’ lights along Salam Street, saving 50 per cent in energy costs, and reducing carbon footprint.

A feature of the Gulf Traffic Exhibition and Conference – taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre until 14 December – the Gulf Traffic Awards this year attracted 70 nominations in seven categories, and were judged by an independent panel of industry experts.

Anthony Pearce, Honorary Life Member and former Director General of the International Road Federation, and one of the judges last night said: “The Gulf Traffic Awards showcase the most important contributions to the environment and innovations in infrastructure, traffic management, and parking management over the last two years in the Gulf region.
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“Improvements in road safety are crucial and the awards recognise the most important contributions in terms of infrastructure projects, vehicle innovation, and changing driver behaviour.”

Other notable winners of the evening included the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport for their ‘Road Service Patrol’ project in the Innovation in Traffic Management Award category; and Traffic Tech for their ‘Salwa Truck Weigh Stations’ project in Qatar for the Infrastructure Project for Improving Road Safety Award category.

Traffic Tech built and operated six truck weigh stations as part of the Salwa Highway ITS project – increasing traffic safety and reducing road maintenance cost through prevention of accidents and road damage caused by overloaded vehicles.

Husam Musharbash, president and CEO of the Traffic Tech Group said: “We are delighted to receive this Gulf Traffic Award tonight, which is a culmination of our continuous efforts in innovating integrated systems that promote safety for the traffic and transportation industry.

“We dedicate the award to the Public Works Authority Qatar for giving us the opportunity to be part of the enforcement of legal weight limits on the Salwa International Highway - a project that has helped preserve road infrastructure and promote traffic safety”.

Introduced in 2009, the Gulf Traffic Awards have become an integral part of the Gulf Traffic Exhibition and Conference, which opened on Monday.  The exhibition highlights the latest cutting edge innovations, solutions, products and services from more than 200 of the world’s leading traffic and transport infrastructure suppliers.

The two-day conference, which concludes today, addresses the challenges in road safety and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in the Gulf region.

Supported by Dubai Police, Gulf Traffic is held under the patronage of His Excellency Lt. General Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, Commander in Chief of Dubai Police.
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The Gulf Traffic Awards winners

Caption:  The winners of The Gulf Traffic Awards celebrate their achievements last night at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.