RTA signs a strategic agreement with Tecom Investments to expand and develop mass transportation in Dubai

According to the Agreement, Public Transport Agency will act as a consultant to Tecom's Energy & Sustained Environment Dep't in providing buses to commute employees from and to their residences.

The Agreement was signed by Essa Abdul-Rahman Al-Dosari, CEO of Public Transport Agency at the RTA, and Ali bin Towaih, CEO of Energy & Sustained Environment Dep't at Tecom Investments.

In a speech marking the event, Al-Dosari said: "Through signing this Agreement with Tecom Investments, Public Transport Agency will meet several joint targets i.e. conducting studies, researches and field surveys to identify mobility obstacles besetting the daily life of the public; particularly employees, and exerting joint efforts to establish logical and effective solutions to overcome these difficulties.

"Public Transport Agency and Tecom Investments will team up to develop joint mobility management programs to provide mass transit modes for employees and encourage them to use alternative transit modes other than private vehicles. The two parties will also work on minimizing single occupancy vehicles used by employees in traveling to their workplaces through fostering the practice of carpooling in their daily shuttle from and to their workplaces, i.e. increasing the number of passengers per vehicle through introducing the carpooling system.

"Provision of dedicated vehicles to lift employees from and to their workplaces will considerably reduce the number of private vehicles on Dubai roads. We will look into how to facilitate the procedures of registering employee dedicated buses of our strategic partners within the RTA system. We will also work on streamlining the parking space adjacent to the workplaces in an effective manner that copes with the requirements of companies, organizations and traffic congestion in the vicinity resulting from the daily traffic of employee and visitor vehicles.

"Public Transport Agency is launching joint cultural and awareness campaigns targeting employees of companies and organizations to educate them about the impact of transportation by private vehicles on traffic bottlenecks in general and the environment & community in particular,"

concluded Al-Dosari.

Bin Towiah hailed the Agreement as another highly important initiative launched by the RTA that would boost the cooperation and the strategic partnership between Public Transport Agency and Tecom Investments. "It paves the way for further linkages and cooperation between the two parties to expand and develop mass transit in the emirate of Dubai," he continued.

"This Memorandum of Understanding reflects the intentions of both parties to exchange the corporate knowledge, experiments and expertise as well as achieving the mutual benefit of both parties. It also promotes the awareness of UAE citizens and residents of the importance of mobility management programs, and reasserts the concept of sustained transport through holding seminars, meetings and workshops to meet the requirements of national growth in the UAE in a way compatible with the strategy of Tecom Investments" added Bin Towaih.

It is worth-mentioning that over the last two years Tecom embarked on a pilot operation to cut carbon emissions in the region. Under this drive, it launched a host of key initiatives, and recently became the first company to pursue an integrated sustainable development policy providing an array of guiding principles to all Tecom buildings to contribute to minimizing the cost of using facilities.