American Minister of Transport lauds RTA plans to ease traffic jams, develop transport systems in Dubai

She praised the plan for establishing integrated solutions to upgrade & widen roads network & crossings, upgrading all aspects of mass transit such as rail, tram, buses and marine transport modes.

It also includes introducing sophisticated traffic & transport systems to obtain optimum efficiency of roads & transport system.

She was particularly impressed with Dubai Metro Project and the air-conditioned bus shelters, and commended implementation of the policies that minimize semi-total reliance by the public on private vehicles and promote the use of public transport modes including mass transit modes.

The American Minister made these comments following her visit to the RTA where she was received by H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of Roads & Transport Authority, who welcomed the Minister along with Paul Steven, the American Consul General in Dubai and the accompanying delegation.

Al Tayer made a brief account of the RTA and said that RTA was originally established in order to provide an effective & integrated transport system to support the vision of the emirate of Dubai. From inception, RTA was tasked to work out express solutions to contain and improve the traffic status, prepare a long-term strategic plan, and continue with the existing projects.

"RTA Strategic Plan focused on three pivotal points, namely easing traffic congestion problem which has surfaced in the recent years as a result of a 6% annual increase in Dubai population, while vehicle ownership is growing at a rate of 17% studies revealed that the number of person trips in the morning peak hours will rise from 350 thousand daily trips to 1.5 million daily trips by 2020.

The second aspect is to improve the level of traffic safety. Mortality rate is 20 per each 100k of Dubai population, whereas this figure is not more than 6 fatalities per each 100 thousand of population in counties such as Britain & Swede.

The third aspect is to encourage community members to use mass transit modes which currently account for 6% of total trips made, while such ratio hits 80% in some of the advanced countries.

"RTA is engaged in constructing projects amounting Dhs26bn; including 8 billion for road projects such as Dubai Bypass Road linking Dubai with both Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, the road parallel to Sheikh Zayed Road and the Arabian Ranches, which is classified as the biggest interchanges in Dubai.

There is also the first juncture at Sheikh Zayed Road, Union Square Widening Project and other related projects. Projects portfolio also includes developing mass marine transit system including purchase of around 2000 new state-of-the-art buses, and construction of about 1500 air-conditioned bus shelters for public transport commuters, and developing marine transport modes including abras and the waterbus" added Al Tayer.

The meeting discussed the work progress in Dubai Metro Project; which is running according to schedule touching a completion rate of more than 60%. It is considered the longest driverless metro line completed as one project.

The project, which consists of a Red & Green Lines at cost of Dh15 billion, adopts the highest technological systems, including air-conditioning systems inside the stations and trains compatible with the climatic conditions of Dubai urban areas.

All trains will operate in an integrated electronic system, enabling enhanced control and accurate time schedules. Rail stations have creative architectural designs and will be fitted with the latest safety security technologies and parking facilities are being provided for private & public vehicles and public buses in each station.

Rail network consists of two main lines; the Red Line starting from Al Rashidiya to Union Square and to Sheikh Zayed Road up to Jebel Ali Area. The Green Line starts from Al Nahdah at Al Qusais and passes through Union Square to Al Ras towards Al Shindaga and from there to Dubai Healthcare City.

Phase I of Dubai Metro Operation will start on 9/9/2009 and upon full operation of all metro lines in future; the number of rail commuters is expected to hit 600 thousand persons. It is note worthy that the total capacity of the rail network is 1.2 passengers per day and about 355 million passengers per annum.

At the end of the meeting; H.E. Mattar Al Tayer exchanged commemorative gifts with the Her Excellency Mary Peters, the American Minister of Transport.