IRF ITS Program Sets the Standard for International Best-Practices

The IRF proudly held the first Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Executive Training Series for traffic engineers, executives/managers, local, district, municipal, regional and national planning organizations professionals, all at the Toaque Palace, Diplomatic Quarter, in Riyadh Saudi Arabia May 18–20, 2013.

Today, ITS integrates information and communication technology with transport infrastructure, vehicles, and users, while allowing for people and goods to obtain higher values and capacities from transport networks, with greater safety and with less negative impact on the environment.

The IRF ITS Executive Training Series Part 1 was designed by the IRF for highway and road professionals in Saudi Arabia,and addresses the specific challenges facing the Kingdom and featured simultaneous interpretation to and from Arabic and English for the convenience of the participants. Additional training course modules will be developed in close consultation with the Municipality of Riyadh.

The course provides an essential guide through the main applications of ITS to solving transport problems faced by transportation professionals in Saudi Arabia. The series covers over 12 total applications including ITS architecture, Highway ITS, Ramp Metering, Commercial Vehicle Operations, Security, Incident Detection and Management, Signal Control Systems, Advanced Traffic Management, and a variety of modes to solving transport problems.

The first part of the Training Series covers the main principles, concepts, elements, technologies and benefits of intelligent transport systems. The course materials were specially designed for both professionals who intend to pursue specializations in the area, as well as other civil and transport engineers whose responsibilities and tasks would be enhanced by a fundamental knowledge of ITS.

The course also contains standard lectures divided in sections focusing on specific aspects and applications of ITS, followed by the presentation of case studies to convey the benefit of practical, real-life situations. Each section features a question and answer session where interaction between an expert panel and the audience is encouraged. One-on-one interaction with the instructors is also encouraged and available.

Multiple instructors lead the series and all registered delegates who attended a minimum of three out of the four days of instruction and passed a test on day four received the IRF’s ITS certification, which is universally accepted amongst professional institutions such as Engineering and Transportation Societies.