- Title: LEBANON: Traffic Management Center sets up twitter page to ease Beirut traffic
- Date: 2nd January 2014
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (RECENT) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) VARIOUS OF DENSE CITYTRAFFIC DURING FESTIVE SEASON OF CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR EXTERIOR OF TRAFFIC CONTROL ROOM LEBANESE FLAG VARIOUS OF LEBANESE SECURITY POLICE WORKING IN TRAFFIC CONTROL ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COLONEL MARCELINO FARAH, HEAD OF THE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER, SAYING: "The control room started about three years ago and after then we have entered the media, we always have traffic guiding bulletin in media channels. We have later entered the social media websites, and since, we noticed that citizens are happy with it, the citizen felt that we are feeling with him and when we have obstacles on the streets, we are solving it as soon as possible and this relieved the Lebanese people a lot." TV SCREENS SHOWING TRAFFIC (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) COLONEL MARCELINO FARAH, HEAD OF THE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER, SAYING: "We have an account on Twitter and Facebook @tmclebanon and it has been there for about two weeks." VARIOUS OF SCREEN SHOWING TWITTER ACCOUNT INDICATING 11,513 FOLLOWERS ON JANUARY 2, 2014 VARIOUS OF TRAFFIC CONTROL ROOM (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ENGINEER JEAN DABAGHI, HEAD OF THE ENGINEERS AT THE TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT CENTER, SAYING: "We have cameras in secondary roads but you know, 55 cameras for great Beirut are not enough. We hope to increase them to 70 or 80 cameras and to extend them in greater Beirut. Every time we have more coverage, our work will be more efficient. We are now covering with 55 camera, which covers 70% or 80% of great Beirut but we surely have some points that we can't see. We wish we can cover it 100% and extend over great Beirut because every time we have more coverage, we will ease on the citizen his traffic movement." OFFICERS LOOKING AT SCREENS/TRAFFIC VARIOUS TRAFFIC CONGESTION ON ROADS
- Embargoed: 17th January 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Technology,Transport
- Reuters ID: LVACA751BIPOKUINCB1LNWHMNFUL
- Story Text: Beirut city traffic is notoriously bad. Over the festive Christmas and New Year period however, it gets even worse with more and more people driving in the streets of the capital.
To help ease the capital's perpetual traffic jams, the city's three-year old Traffic Management Center (TMC) has come up with an innovative idea to help drivers find their way round the city and avoid the most congested areas.
The TMC has started its own Twitter account in an effort to provide easy access to the latest traffic news.
On January 2, 2014, a few weeks after the account went live, the page attracted 11,513 followers.
In a city where traffic congestion is as chronic as its electricity and water shortages, any relief is welcomed by drivers and passengers across the city.
The TMC staff say they are working round the clock to ensure Lebanese drivers are informed about traffic updates.
"The control room started about three years ago and after then we have entered the media, we always have traffic guiding bulletin in media channels. We have later entered the social media websites, and since, we noticed that citizens are happy with it, the citizen felt that we are feeling with him and when we have obstacles on the streets, we are solving it as soon as possible and this relieved the Lebanese people a lot, '' Colonel Marcelino Farah, head of the Traffic Management Center, said in an interview.
"We have an account on Twitter and Facebook @tmclebanon and it has been there for about two weeks", he added.
The TMC manages about 200 traffic lights and 55 cameras set up across Beirut and the Greater Beirut area.
"We have cameras in secondary roads but you know, 55 cameras for great Beirut are not enough. We hope to increase them to 70 or 80 cameras and to extend them in greater Beirut. Every time we have more coverage, our work will be more efficient. We are now covering with 55 camera, which covers 70% or 80% of great Beirut but we surely have some points that we can't see. We wish we can cover it 100% and extend over great Beirut because every time we have more coverage, we will ease on the citizen his traffic movement,'' said Jean Dabaghi, head of engineers at the TMC.
The TMC became more popular following Alexa, a winter storm that hit the region in the early days of December 2013.
The TMC posted updates on road closures and statuses on the website of the NNA, the news agency and on its Twitter page informing people about their driving options.
It says its efforts have been so successful that it is now looking to hire more people. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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