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Dubai’s RTA begins monitoring taxi driver behaviour with AI

Posted: 15 July 2020 |

AI techniques are being used to monitor driving performance, potential driving violations and coronavirus protection compliance.

taxi driver

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that it has started to use artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to monitor the behaviour of taxi drivers, with the aim of optimising their driving performance.

Khaled Al-Awadhi, Director of Transportation Systems Department at the Public Transport Corporation at the authority, said: “The Authority has started applying artificial intelligence techniques to monitor the behaviour of taxi drivers in cooperation with Acacus Technologies, developer of the smart camera system in taxis in the Emirate of Dubai. The goal of this project is to know the extent to which drivers comply with the applicable laws and regulations.

“This technology is a proactive measure to know the behaviour of the driver, unlike the surveillance cameras installed in taxis, which are referred to in the event of complaints from passengers. Now, through artificial intelligence, we can know the performance of the driver on the road first hand, which helps us to alert or direct them, or subject them to rehabilitation courses in case of repeated violations such as excessive speed, sudden parking or unnecessary use of brakes. Artificial intelligence techniques also enable us to know the real reasons that may drive the driver to unacceptable practices, in terms of knowing the road condition or the situations leading to offences, providing us with complete and impartial transparency to take appropriate action against the driver.”

Al-Awadhi explained that the accuracy of the images related to the driver’s behaviours on the road, which is then sent to the monitoring centre for analysis, has an accuracy rate of 99.92 per cent, and that cooperation with Acacus is being carried out to raise this rate to 99.98 per cent. 

Talal bin Halim, CEO of Acacus Technologies, said: “We are proud to cooperate with the Roads and Transport Authority in this field, as it represents one of the major government agencies at the state and Dubai levels, which is keen to provide comfort and happiness to the users of taxis, especially as it is a means of transportation with which the utmost safety and quality of service, in accordance with the authority’s vision of ‘safe and easy transportation for all.’ In addition to this, we can monitor protection requirements and precautionary measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, such as physical spacing and wearing of masks.”