RTA partners briefed on the final conclusions of Dubai Addressing System Project

The meeting was attended by H.E. General Dhahi Khalfan Tameem- Chief of Dubai Police, H.E. Mattar Al Tayer - Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of the RTA, H.E. Hussain Lutah- Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality, H.E. Abdullah Al Daboos- Executive President of Emirates Posts Holding Group, H.E. Major General Rashed Al Matrooshi- Director of Civil Defence Dep't, Khalifa bin Darrai- CEO of Dubai Ambulance Services, Abdullah Al Fun- CEO of Strategy & Planning Affairs at Emirates Posts, and Yaarub Al Medfaa from Emirates Telecommunications Corporation. From the RTA attended engineer Maitha bin Adai- CEO of Traffic & Roads Agency, Hussain Al Banna- Director of Traffic Dep't, and a number of Dep't Directors and Section Managers.

The Consultant of the Project made a visual presentation covering both the addressing system and directional signage. The Consultant reviewed difficulties currently experienced by residents and visitors of Dubai in locating their whereabouts.

He also referred to the difficulty faced by police patrols and Civil Defence vehicles in locating venues of callers as they are unable to accurately describe their locations. Moreover, he pointed that the accelerating growth witnessed by Dubai warrants having in place an addressing system that is effective, practical and easy to use for all residents and visitors of Dubai.

The video presentation included three options for implementing the Addressing System. The First Option is to keep the existing system, the Second Option is to use roads names, and the Third Option is to use road names and sectors as a basis for the Addressing System.

It has been agreed to use the Third Option, which is the best considering that it is easily applicable and usable by all segments of the community. It doesn't require modifying the existing building numbers and it will be easy to integrate the Addressing System with the Directional Signs System.

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer said, "The Addressing System Follow-up Committee, which includes members from all relevant authorities, departments and agencies, considered several alternatives of Addressing System and Directional Signage and matched them to several global systems applied in different countries with similar nature to Dubai. The Committee opted to use road names rather than road numbers such as (24 Abu Hurairah Road /Jumeirah, Dubai). It has also been agreed to replace road numbers with new ones such that road names will not be repeated. Areas will then be divided into Sectors consisting of several Communities while building numbers to be kept as they are. Hence this new system will not abolish the existing system, but rather enhances it."

As to the directional signs on roads, it has been agreed to use names of roads and sectors on directional signs instead of names of areas, as is the case in the applicable system. Al Tayer revealed that the change will be made only to directional signs and not the overhead support signage, a matter which will save time and effort as signage will have to be modified in accordance with the requirements at site.

The meeting agreed to implement the Project on a 3-months trial period after which the results of the experiment will be evaluated. Jumeirah 3 area has been selected for introducing the Addressing System and a sector of Sheikh Zayed Road from the 2nd to the 4th Interchange has also been selected to implement the Directional Signs System. Maps required for the system will be produced and intensive awareness campaigns will be carried out to educate the public on the optimum use of maps.

"The Addressing System will transform the prevailing culture and the public perception and description of locations. Under the new system, it will be easier to describe locations accurately and memorize them, with no room for human errors. The Project, which is modeled on sophisticated global positioning systems, includes designing and production of Traffic Control Means Guide and preparing maps of directional sign locations using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and other similar systems. An intense media and promotional campaign will be unleashed over several phases to introduce the system to the public and how best they can benefit from it. Promotional and tourist campaigns will be developed across the emirate to assist motorists and all residents and visitors to benefit from the new system", concluded H.E. Mattar Al Tayer.