The Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Regional Transport Research &Education Centre KUMASI (TRECK), of the College of Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology(KNUST) has collaborated with the Alabama Transportation Institute (ATI) of the University of Alabama, USA in a 5 days short course on Road Safety and Traffic Management for thirty (30) road and transport sector professional, academics, researcher and consultants. The training took place from November 4-8, 2019 at the Engineering Centre, Roman ridge Accra.

The Director of TRECK , Prof. Rev. Ing. Charles Adams, who is  also the researcher in Traffic management, intelligent transport systems and smart cities facilitated the course with Prof. Steven Jones and Dr Emmanuel Kofi Adanu from the Alabama Transportation Institute (ATI), other resource persons were Ing. Victor Owusu; a former Director of Safety and Environment Division and former CEO of Ghana Highway Authority and Ing Magnus Lincoln Quarshie, the CEO of Delin Consult and an NMT expert.

The course focused on human factors and crashes, human centered road safety planning, health and public health implication of safety and congestion, road safety audit and pedestrian and non motorized transport facilities integration into transport networks. Participants undertook site visit to the Accra Traffic Management Centre (ATMC), where they interacted with the staff of the Department of Urban Roads.

In his welcome statement, Alhaji Dr Abass Mohammed Awolu Director of Urban roads indicated that the ATMC  which connects over 44 signalised intersections on the Accra Central - Achimota - Amasaman corridor of the N6 highway incorporates cameras, speed cameras, detector, sensors, remote access cameras and also includes transponders and detectors in buses to give signal priority to the Aayalolo bus. In addition red light detection cameras have been put at intersections along the corridor to capture vehicles that jump red at the traffic lights.

This information shall be used by the police to prosecute drivers who jump red at the traffic lights. The traffic management centre operates on a 24 hour schedule and monitors traffic flows on the corridor . At peak periods green waves are introduced to allow vehicles go through the traffic lights without stopping . He indicated that the ministry of roads and highways intends to link up the rest of the traffic lights in Accra onto the traffic management centre.

The centre has the ability to change the cycle times of the intersections in real time so as to improve traffic flow. A marked departure from the fixed timings at the old traffic lights.

Prof Adams reiterated to the DUR the commitment of TRECK to build capacity and support the ATMC with research to resolve the congestion, safety and traffic management problems in the Accra Metropolitan Area.