Evolution of the transportation system in Dubai

T paradigm shift in cities’ strategic plans to become smarter and sustainable cannot suppress the role of transport sector. There is a permanent challenge to balance society’s demand for more mobility and the public opinion – which is becoming increasingly intolerant of chronic delays – and the poor quality of some transport services. As demand for transport keeps increasing, the community’s answer cannot be just to build new infrastructure and open up markets. Hence, an evolution is already taking shape in the transport sector as cities are adopting accessibility-driven strategies in order to meet travel demand and to achieve sustainable development. Dubai is known for its pioneering development approach in the Middle East and has some interesting lessons to offer. This paper explores the evolution of the transportation system in the city of Dubai. In 2005, some of the key transport challenges that Dubai faced were traffic congestion, increasing car ownership, high road accident fatality rate, low public transport ridership, transport pollution. It was estimated that about AED 4.6 billion were annually lost as value of time due to traffic congestion. The car ownership in the Emirate reached 541 cars per 1000 people, which is one of the highest compared to those of similar cities around the world. The road accident fatality rate was 24 fatalities per 100,000 people in comparison to 6 fatalities per 100,000 people in countries such as UK and Sweden. Additionally, the road accidents’ direct cost was around AED 0.87 billion per year. The public transport comprised of buses only and constituted only 6% of the total trips that were made in the Emirate, compared to 65% in Singapore and 87% in Hong Kong. Eventually, the high use of private vehicles increased transport pollution, with hydrocarbon emissions’ average reaching the threshold of 800 ppm, which is much higher in comparison to other cities’ averages of 200-300 ppm,. In summary, the transport challenges faced by the aspirant city of Dubai are the following: • Managing traffic congestion • Providing reliable and affordable public transport • Improving transportation safety • Discouraging the use of cars and encouraging the use of public transport. • Bringing a behavioural change in a car-dominated society, where average vehicle occupancy is 1.7 passengers per vehicle • Providing access to passengers with special needs • Developing transportation legislations • Protecting the environment In order to maintain the city’s economic prosperity and make Dubai a role model for public transport in the region, the transportation infrastructure of the city has been given priority by the visionary leadership of the Emirate. Hence, to deal with all surface transportation issues, in November 2005 the government of Dubai established an independent government body named Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). RTA is responsible for all surface transport systems in Dubai, including planning and integration of transport systems, licensing of drivers and vehicles, and transport policies and legislations. RTA has a flat structure to streamline the decision-making process. The structure is based on an agency model principle. There are three corporate-level sectors (Strategy and Corporate Governance; Corporate Administration Support Services; and Corporate Technical Support Services) and five operational agencies (Traffic and Roads Agency; Public Transport Agency; Rail Agency; Licensing Agency; and Dubai Taxi Agency), each chaired by an appointed CEO. The Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai took a proactive and systematic approach to face the growing challenges and improve the quality of life in the Emirate. A comprehensive integrated strategic transportation plan