​The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ participated in the International Traffic Safety Conference which was held from 26 to 27 November 2018 under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. A number of local and international traffic safety experts and specialists from around 60 countries participated in the conference.

Ashghal also participated in the exhibition that accompanied the conference, during which it presented the School Zone Safety Programme, and safety elements such as barriers, road signs, Intelligent Transportation Systems and others. On the other hand, the authority participated in 3 discussion sessions; the first session was titled "Health and Traffic Safety ", which dealt with Ashghal's strategy for traffic safety and the international standards adopted by Ashghal to preserve the safety of road users. The second discussion was titled “Traffic Safety Engineering and at Risk Road Users” while the third discussion was held under the title “ITS – the Flow of Traffic”.

In this occasion Eng. Yousef Al-Emadi, Manager of Highway Projects Department, said that. in the past years, the authority completed several road safety projects such as the development of a comprehensive road safety monitoring system, including key performance indicators for road networks based on a star rating system through iRAP.

his is in addition to analyzing incident and road asset information, putting guidelines for temporary traffic management and road safety assessment, and developing maintenance standards in the State of Qatar.

Al-Emadi pointed out that Ashghal follows the five-year plan (2018-2022) in implementing 25 plans related to the assessment and follow-up of road safety including work zone safety, traffic congestion management, intelligent transportation system, road design safety, traffic safety, As well as asset management and road maintenance. This plan includes an emergency team to respond urgently to maintenance requirements, study road signs, ensure pedestrian safety, and manage traffic congestion during the 2022 World Cup.

He added: "As for the road maintenance projects and the day-to-day work carried out by the authority to ensure the safety of the road users, Ashghal is implementing a school zone safety programme to ensure the safety of students and parents when entering and leaving the schools. The mentioned programme includes 475 schools throughout the country, of which 284 are complete, and 176 of those were completed in 2018. Currently work is ongoing in 42 areas around schools, in addition to working on the design of roads surrounding 149 other schools.

The conference aims to share knowledge, experiences and research related to traffic safety, and to introduce the world to the advanced level reached by the State of Qatar in the field of engineering, design and road construction. The conference also showcases Qatar since it met the international safety and security standards, and it provides the opportunity to learn about the experiences and efforts of other countries in the field of road safety, and gain experience and learn about the latest technology of road engineering.

The conference focused on all aspects related to road safety such as traffic safety engineering, driving behavior, road users at risk, law enforcement, post-accident investigation methods, internal vehicle technology, transport safety and security, road design, public transportation, transport economics and policies, traffic management, logistics transport services, urban planning and land use.

It is worth mentioning that the Public Works Authority is looking forward to continue to work with various agencies implementing the National Road Safety Strategy to complete the five-year projects remaining of the strategy 2018-2022. This will be through an execution plan, which includes all the projects and procedures that we are working on implementing together, aiming at developing a safe road network.

Ashghal seeks through these plans and projects to achieve the greatest public benefit to the community, and to ensure road safety and to implement the ambitious goals set in Qatar's National Road Safety Strategy, reaffirming our commitment to our role in supporting the country's efforts to achieve sustainable development and enhance road safety.