RTA outlines USD12bn plan to tackle Dubai's infrastructure challenges

This was revealed by H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director, Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), during a panel discussion on "Bad planning and infrastructure" at the International Design Forum at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai.

Organised by Moutamarat, a joint venture of Tatweer and the Saudi Research and Publishing Company under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, the three-day IDF concluded today.

Outlining the RTA's plan of action, Al Tayer said the creation of a livable city posed a significant challenge since land use planning did not support sustainability and the way communities were planned only helped to increase automobile dependence. Currently, the share of all trips made by public transport (buses and Abra) does not exceed seven per cent of the total traffic.

In response, the RTA will encourage communities to develop through integration of land use and transportation planning in terms of building communities where people can live, work and have leisure facilities. This will be achieved by providing Transit Oriented Development (TOD) near Metro, bus and marine stations.

Al Tayer said: "Our plan is to increase the capacity of the roads by building 500km of new roadways, 95 new interchanges, nine new ring roads, and increasing the number of Creek crossing lanes from 19 (in 2006) to 47 by 2008, and 100 by 2020. The total cost is estimated to be about US$12 billion.

"The RTA follows an integrated and balanced approach to transportation planning and believes steps are required in all areas including land use and growth management, transport demand and supply management, and investment in new transport capacity to achieve the desirable results. The RTA has developed and is implementing a comprehensive Strategic Transportation Plan which covers Dubai mobility needs up to the year 2020."

Improving road safety was another issue, since the accident fatality rate in Dubai is around 20 per 100,000, compared to six in countries such as UK and Sweden. To reverse this trend, the RTA is developing a Comprehensive Road Safety Strategy and will implement comprehensive "Safety Audit Standards". This will include a number of safety programmes and campaigns, minimum speed limits on certain high speed roads and the construction of 17 new pedestrian bridges at an estimated cost of AED50 million, in addition to grade separate pedestrian crossings at the 42 metro stations.

Khalid Al Malik, CEO of Tatweer, said: "The planning and design of Dubai and its associated challenges are important issues at the heart of our nation's development. Our ability to tackle them constructively will have a direct impact on Dubai's growth and its viability as a world-class city. The discussion at the IDF is another important milestone, building on our credibility and ability to contribute to the debate on national development."

The transport issue on everyone's mind is traffic congestion. Dubai's population is forecast to increase from 1.3 million in 2005 to around 5.3 million by 2020. The rapid increase in population growth is a major factor contributing to the increase in traffic congestion. Statistics revealed 16 per cent of congestion is related to traffic incidents.

The RTA studies estimate US$1.25 billion annual loss due to traffic congestion. The studies have found 61 per cent of the congestion is due to insufficient road capacity.

"RTA's plan of action is to ensure quick clearance of incidents (towing cycles) and provision of Intelligent Transportation Systems to alert and divert traffic away from locations of such incidents and accident spots," added Al Tayer.