Dubai traffic will be smooth within three years

Dubai: Motorists in Dubai will experience smooth traffic flow within three years once the major road and public transportation projects are completed.

"The RTA [Roads and Transport Authority] takes the responsibility to combat traffic congestion in Dubai within three years and we have already put a strategic plan to develop road networks and public transportation in Dubai up till year 2020," said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, at a Ramadan Majlis yesterday that discussed traffic problems and future solutions.

He said 350,000 vehicle trips are being made every hour and there is a 15-minute delay in each 25-minute trip during rush hours and there are about six rush hours in each working day and there 250 days of the year include rush hours, according to studies conducted by RTA.

Traffic congestion causes an estimated loss of Dh4.6 billion annually for the economy, and therefore the need to have effective measures to combat congestion is imperative.

RTA has taken a number of measures such as increasing the capacity of the road network through expansion as well as development of the network.

Development of public transportation will also provide effective alternatives for use of personal cars.

However, improvements of road networks and public transportation system, though very important, RTA officials believe that it will not alone curb the problem and other measures are necessary to secure a smooth traffic flow.

New policies and rules are expected to be applied soon in order to curb the traffic flow in the country such as road pricing, mobility management, collective transportation and travel demand management policies.

"A committee has been drafting a proposal for new traffic rules that will help in easing the traffic flow in Dubai, and a draft will be send to the interior ministry," said Al Tayer.

Travel demand management policies such as ban on importation and registration of old cars and increasing car registration fees are under study in RTA and great emphasis are put on them to reduce the traffic flow.

"I believe such policies will help in combating the problem. There are 541 cars per 1,000 resident in Dubai and if it continues in the same trend there will be 1.57 million cars by 2010 and 2.6 million cars by 2020," said Al Tayer.

Mohammad Obaid Al Mulla, CEO of Dubai Public Transport Agency at the RTA, said that the RTA is proposing a change in private sector working pattern to ease traffic in the Dubai and has been having talks with major companies about the possibility of finding solutions together.

"We have been discussing with companies the possibility of having flexible working hours as it will decrease the traffic flow by 30 per cent," said Al Mulla.

INFRASTRUCTURE
500km to be added to road network

RTA is conducting several projects to develop a 500km road network with 96 bridges at a cost of Dh44 billion.

Expansion of the Shaikh Zayed Road, and the Parallel Roads as well as Al Khail Road and Emirates Road and the Outer Bypass Road are part of the new projects, which will cost Dh22 billion.

The project is set to expand Shaikh Zayed road and Emirates Road and transform a number roundabouts to intersections.

New roads are being constructed to connect to new areas. Two new main roads from the north to the south, namely Nad Al Hamer and the Academic City roads are also being constructed. These roads will be about 115-km-long and will have 30 interchanges and bridges with an estimated total cost of Dh7.9 billion.

Some 15 main roads with a total length of 200km are also being improved with a budget of Dh1.7 billion.

Factors contributing to the increase in congestion
- Insufficient road network capacity: 61%
- Accidents: 16%
- Events and festivals: 9%
- Poor driving behaviour: 8%
- Road work and detours: 5%
- Bad weather conditions: 1%