The Roads and Transport Authority's ambitious transport and strategic plan 2020 should make Dubai one of the world's greatest cities
Within two years of its establishment, the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has responded well to the city's growing traffic and transport needs.
Its aim is to provide safe and a smooth traffic flow in Dubai.
"The RTA plans to tackle traffic congestion by developing road networks as well as pedestrian and cyclist facilities and developing mass transit systems," says Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA.
Al Tayer says the RTA has completed a number of projects in the past two years, establishing an organisational chart that aims to facilitate the decision-taking process.
He said the chart includes the progress of five agencies, namely the Traffic and Roads Agency, the Public Transport Agency, the Rail Agency, the Marine Agency and the Dubai Taxi Agency. Besides these, there are two other sectors, Corporate Support and Corporate Governance.
"The RTA has managed to employ qualified Emiratis in all leading positions, and the framework agreements have been signed between the RTA and its affiliated operational agencies - a new concept at the level of local government departments in the emirate.
"These agreements aim to define the general framework for relationships between the RTA and its affiliated agencies in terms of tasks, responsibilities and services rendered by the two parties.
Al Tayer says that at the technical level, the RTA launched the integrated transport and traffic strategic plan 2020. It has also made short-term solutions to address traffic congestion problems in addition to proceeding with the existing projects and embarking on new projects.
"The biggest evidence of our technical achievements is the volume of undergoing projects, which exceed Dh25 billion. In addition to the key projects which have recently been opened such as Business Bay Crossing, the Floating Bridge, widening of Al Maktoum Bridge, and widening of Emirates Road," says Al Tayer.
He says the RTA is proud of these achievements, which he said would not have materialised without support from His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Key aspects
Al Tayer highlights some of the key aspects of the Strategic Plan 2020, which he says conforms with the key aspects and strategic goals of the Dubai Strategic Plan in general, and the infrastructure, land and environment in particular.
The plan envisages developing a road network and mass transit system at a cost exceeding Dh75 billion. This includes expanding the total length of roads by 500 kilometres, increasing the number of lanes crossing the Creek to 47 by 2008, and further increasing them to 100 lanes by 2020.
It also includes the construction of nine ring roads, constructing and renovating 120 interchanges and flyovers, developing intelligent traffic systems and increasing the number of public buses to 2500 by 2009.
The projects also include expanding the bus route network up to 3000 km, increasing the length of the marine transport network up to 210 km, the number of boats to 57, constructing 50 boat stations and increasing the metro line network to 318 km. A 270 km tram network will also be developed.
In addition to these projects the RTA is also looking after road projects and transport systems in major real estate projects such as the Palm Deira and Business Bay among others.
