Research Priorities for the Transportation and Traffic Safety Center in Kuwait Dr. Fahad AL-Rukaibi Director Transportation & Traffic Safety Center Faculty of Engineering & Petroleum Kuwait University 4 th International Gulf Conference on Roads Doha – Qatar 2008

 Background about Kuwait  Traffic Safety Issues  Research Priorities Agenda  Transportation in Kuwait

Background about Kuwait

State of Kuwait  Population:  1 Million Kuwaiti  2 Millions non-Kuwaiti  Coastal State ~ 200KM coast line  Urban Area concentrated around the East coast

Urban Area in state of Kuwait

Transportation in Kuwait

Main Organizations in Transportation Industry  Transportation and Traffic Safety Center, Kuwait University  Traffic Department, MOI  Ministry of Public Works (MPW)  Kuwait Municipality  Higher Traffic Council

Urban Transportation  Modern network of roads  5000 KM paved roads  1000 KM non-paved roads  5 Ports  7 Airports  66,000 Driving License each year  Number of vehicles ~ 1,250,000

Traffic Safety Issues

Safety Issues  in 2005 ~ 47,000 accidents  in 2006 ~ 52,000 accidents  in 2007 ~ 58,000 accidents  Death toll ~ 500 persons / year  Injuries toll ~ 5000 persons / year  Severe accidents ~ 5000 accidents (2005)  Severe accidents ~ 6000 accidents (2006)  Traffic penalties ~ 3 millions / year

Accidents/month

Major number of accidents is done by males in age Accidents relation to age and gender for year 2005

Accidents relation to age and gender for year 2006 Major number of accidents is done by males in age 18-30

Severe Accidents (Death Accidents)  in 2005, 90 persons  in 2006, 110 persons  Information System established for analysis of severe accidents for Engineering Department, MOI

Manual system in recording severe accidents

Proposed information system for recording severe accidents

Research Priorities

Transportation Challenges in Kuwait (1)  Level of service is low at peak hours  High toll of deaths and fatal injuries  Full dependence on private cars and taxi as unique mode of transportation

Transportation Challenges in Kuwait (2)  Role of transportation in the national strategic development plan (Kuwait as international financial center by 2020)  Different organizations have to unify under single umbrella for transportation management

Research Priorities (1)  Implementation of transit solutions as strategic direction in facing transportation challenges  Enhance decision process in the transportation industry inside Kuwait  Benefit from the coast in depending on marine transportation as alternative to land transportation

Research Priorities (2)  National strategy for transportation and traffic safety in Kuwait  Information system for transportation researches performed in Kuwait  Enhance performance of Traffic department in MOI :  System for accidents data collection  Update traffic counts and survey

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