Transportation Management Center (TMC) and Traffic Signal Control System (TSCS)
for the City of Addis Ababa
With the sponsorship and guidance of the Ethiopian Ministry of Transportation in collaboration with the Addis Ababa Mayor’s office, in particular the transportation group, and assistance from Ethiopian ITS experts in the Diaspora (USA), important efforts and significant advances have been made in the last few years, to raise awareness on the value of ITS technologies to improve and modernize the transportation system of the city, by tackling the pressing issues such as traffic congestion, safety, access to public transportation services, as well as institutional capacity building in transportation planning, operations and management of traffic and incidents.
One of the most important programs in the effort to tackle the pressing transportation issues of the City and seek appropriate solutions, the Ministry of Transport sponsored several transportation symposiums (including on ITS) for transportation stake holders of the city. The primary focus of the Symposiums in April 2010 and March 2011 in particular was ITS. A thorough discussion and demonstration of applicable ITS systems to the stakeholders was made possible by ITS specialists from the Ethiopian Diaspora in the USA. This discussion included the possible deployment of cost effective and applicable ITS technologies, in the short, medium and long term to tackle the pressing transportation issues of the city including traffic congestion, accidents, delays, freight movement, lack of effective coordination among the stake holders and inefficiencies in transportation and incident management. A fleet management system, currently operating in the country and other ITS technologies including a presentation on Traffic Signal Control System and the current traffic conditions in the City were also shown in these ITS Symposiums.
From the ITS Symposium discussions of 2010 and 2011, in particular, and several follow-up meetings with senior management of the key transportation stakeholders of the city, invited by the Ministry of Transportation, a consensus was reached to establish a Transportation Management Center (TMC) and Traffic Signal Control Center (TSCS) for the City of Addis Ababa. Currently, the planning of these complementary major ITS projects is well underway, in collaboration of major stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transport and the City of Addis Ababa Transportation Bureau with assistance from ITS experts in the Ethiopian Diaspora abroad (USA). (Please see the ITS Resources section of this website for details).
Parallel to the promotion and discussion of possible ITS solutions to improve the transportation system of the city of Addis Ababa, the other major effort undertaken in the last few years was understanding the institutional issues and bottlenecks, which are obstacles to modernizing the transportation system, and coming up with recommendations to remove the barriers and accelerate capacity building. With a thorough discussion, a consensus was reached by stakeholders and a recommendation was developed to establish a strong central body, which will be responsible for providing guidance and management of the transportation system of the City of Addis Ababa. As a result of this recommendation, the City of Addis Ababa Transportation Bureau, which is headed by a CEO, and reporting directly to the Mayor was established in 2010, by the higher authorities.
For more information on the Addis Ababa TMC and TSCS projects, please contact …………….