It will also monitor the city’s mass transit systems including Dubai Metro, Dubai Tram, public buses and taxis.

When it comes to getting a handle on Dubai’s ever-increasing traffic demands, the government is not messing around.

HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President of the UAE and ruler of Dubai inaugurated a new Dhs335m traffic control centre designed to oversee all of Dubai’s public transport facilities.

The Enterprise Command and Control Centre (EC3) is a 10,900 sqm building comprising of five levels and will be operated by the RTA to help manage traffic control systems as well as the day-to-day operations of the Dubai Metro, Dubai Tram, public buses, taxis and marine transport modes.

Think of it as a suped-up Batcave, but for busses.

The centre uses “smart technologies” and artificial intelligence to monitor the various traffic-related situations across the city – from accidents to crowd control – and links the RTA’s operational agencies with a central, integrated system.

The main control room, where the majority of the action happens, can accommodate up to 36 operational staff and has a giant wall of screens spanning 53 sqm made up of 40 monitors.

The system links up to a feed of around 11,231 surveillance cameras as well as 34 technological systems within the RTA and can use drones to monitor mobility movement.

The new system is designed to meet the requisites of hosting Expo 2020 and will help improve the co-ordination in managing crises, planning and managing events and organising mobility during mega events in Dubai.

If we were the literal personification of Dubai’s rush-hour traffic, we’d be running scared right about now.

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Images: Dubai Media Office