RTA inaugurates transport museum

Dubai – Offering a peek into the phenomenal growth of the transport sector in Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) recently opened a transport museum at its headquarters in Umm Ramool.

Open only for visiting delegations as well as school and university students, the museum takes visitors through the evolution of transport from the camel-back to the modern metro.

Inaugurated by Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, the museum boasts of antique miniatures and artefacts depicting the details of the current development of transportation systems in the Emirate of Dubai. It also gives a futuristic perspective of transportation systems through physical models and interactive screens narrating the history and vision of transportation and the infrastructure of the Emirate.

Al Tayer expressed his delight with the efforts made to create this museum, which aptly replicates the evolution and development of Dubai’s transportation systems along with future challenges, rendering the Emirate an example to be emulated in this field at the local, regional and international levels.

The museum is divided into various galleries and corners, each reflecting different aspects of development of transportation.

There are corners displaying the evolution of vehicle number plates, driving licences, old marine transit modes, and the cumbersome, primitive transit means marked with noticeable suffering of community members at that time. The facility displays a model of the first 4WD vehicle that arrived in the Emirate, in 1931.

One corner is dedicated for displaying the visits to RTA offices of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council, and Shaikh Maktoum Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council.

The facility also exhibits images of the Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST) and iconic brand of RTA for attracting the best ideas and practices from government and private entities.

The transport museum employs a host of technologies including interactive screens taking the visitor on a virtual tour of Dubai’s road planning.

Another screen runs a documentary on Dubai’s history, visualising how people coped with the tough reality in the past, facing economic hardship and primitive transit means. The documentary portrays how tireless efforts and solid will has reshaped the profile of Dubai.

The museum also houses models of the existing and future projects of the RTA, such as the Water Canal and the eye-catching design of new metro stations.

It also exhibits projects planned for Dubai up to 2050 along with illuminated plates replicating the anticipated designs of future vehicles.

The museum is characterised by its subdued, unflashy lights, rendering the tour of the gallery a quiet and calming walk through the past, present and future.