*WATCH IN HD*
My First Ever Timelapse Video
Taken with a D3100
Sigma 18-200 OS HSM

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http://ammarsphotography.blogspot.com/

600 Photos/ 4 second intervals

From the Khalid ibn Waleed Station to Ibn Battuta Station

Music is by American Dollar

Dubai Metro

Dubai: The number of cabs being booked over phone has increased by close to 16 per cent in 2011, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has said.

Dubai Taxi

In 2011, the number of cabs booked by cab users through the Booking and Despatch Center at RTA’s Public Transport Agency increased to 5,080,903 bookings, up by 16 per cent, as compared to 4,393,826 bookings in 2010.

The total number of calls also increased by 20.9 per cent, going up to 7,256,236 calls in 2011, as compared to the number of calls in 2010.

The center employs 95 people in order to serve customers 24 hours a day.

Adel Shakiri, Director of Transportation Systems, at the Public Transport Agency, attributed the increase to the growing demand for taxi service in Dubai Emirate and the sustained improvement in customer services offered. More info

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai says it now has full control of the Atlantis resort hotel perched atop its palm-shaped island.

Atlantis Hotel Dubai

State-run investment firm Istithmar World said late Friday it paid $250 million to buy out financially troubled business partner Kerzner International Holdings Ltd., which had held a 50 percent stake in the coral-colored hotel. Istithmar already owned half of the property.

Kerzner will continue to operate the resort, which includes a waterpark and 18 restaurants, Istithmar said.

It agreed to give up its stake in the Dubai property and a similar resort in the Bahamas after struggling to restructure $2.6 billion in debt. Canada’s Brookfield Asset Management acquired the Bahamas property in a previously announced deal by agreeing to waive $175 million in debt owed by Kerzner.

Kerzner said it plans to use proceeds from the Dubai sale to reduce its debt load.

Istithmar is part of Dubai state conglomerate Dubai World, which has struggled with high-profile debt troubles of its own. It owns upscale retailer Barneys New York and has a stake in performance company Cirque du Soleil.

“This acquisition is in line with our strategy of managing our assets for value and investing selectively where growth opportunities exist,” Dubai World’s chairman, Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, said in a statement.

Istithmar’s parent Dubai World was at the heart of Dubai’s financial meltdown in 2009. It signed an agreement to restructure some $25 billion in debt last March.

The Atlantis is one of Dubai’s better-known tourist destinations. It is a mainstay of city tours, vying for attention with the world’s tallest tower, Burj Khalifa, and more traditional offerings such as the old gold and spice markets. Ads for the hotel greet Dubai airport passengers on arrival. More info

DUBAI — The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has raised Dh4.5 million in online auction of number plates over three days.

A total of 615 number plates were on offer to 195 bidders.

Commenting on the auction, Mohammed Abdul Kareem 
Nimaat, Director of the RTA’s Vehicles Licensing Agency, said: “The 12^th Online Auction was devoted to a diverse cast 
of numbers bearing different codes in response to suffice 
the needs of individuals 
interested in buying distinguished plates online in a 
transparent and hassle-free manner.

“Staging online auctions is an integral part of the services the Licensing Agency is keen to provide to the public at world-class standards.”

The success of these auctions is a testament to the plans chalked out by the agency, 
especially the timing and the numbers, besides striking a balance between supply and demand in the local market, he added.

At the auction, the four-digit plate M-2011 sold for Dh38,400; M-9110 went for Dh36,000; and H-7867 raised Dh31,500.

The 13^th Online Auction will be held by the Licensing Agency in June and will have over 150 plates of three, four and five digits on offer. More info

news@khaleejtimes.com

Dubai: The city’s finest road is also the one which has the highest number of speeding fines.

Image Credit: Gulf News Archive Shaikh Zayed Road. Last year, motorists racked up 714,894 fines for exceeding speed limits on Shaikh Zayed Road. That's nearly 2,000 tickets a day or 81 an hour.

Last year, motorists racked up 714,894 fines for exceeding speed limits on Shaikh Zayed Road. That’s nearly 2,000 tickets a day or 81 an hour.

Obviously, they haven’t learnt anything. In the first three months of 2012, the heavy footed incurables have run up 210,128 tickets on this freeway – a 27 per cent jump from 165,074 between January and March last year.

Among the speed kings is Indian actor Kamaal Rashid Khan who clocked Dh7,000 in speeding fines on Valentine’s Day night. But it’s still nothing compared to this man whose car was impounded after he racked up Dh127,000 in fines.

Al Khail Road came a distant second with 113,068 fines last year. Curiously, Emirates Road, which was responsible for the highest number of deaths (14) in 2011, recorded 100,467 speeding tickets.

Fourth on the list is Dubai Al Ain Road (98,531) followed by the Dubai Bypass Road (89,943).  More info

This is a video taken from the driver’s seat of the Dubai Metro. The Dubai Metro is driverless so anyone can place himself in the front area if the place is free. The ride at times has been accelerated up to 20x.

Source:  www.youtube.com

Dubai Metro

RIYADH,16 May (IINA) -Saudi Arabia on Tuesday launched a tender process to build a new metro system in the capital o fRiyadhin an effort to ease congestion on the city’s gridlocked roads.

The Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) invited international consortia to prequalify for the project, which it wants to be finished in four years.

“ADAinvites global consortia specialised in the production and supply of rolling stock, control and telecommunications systems as well as metro tunnelling, civil, mechanical and electrical works to prequalify for Riyadh metro project,” it said in a statement.

Metro projects typically cost billions of dollars to build.

The prequalification notice came with a June 20 deadline.

In April, the Saudi Cabinet approved plans to develop a new public transport network in the city within four years that would include both a metro and a new fleet of buses.

The project will be overseen by a committee headed by Prince Sattam, who was appointed Riyadh Governor in November and is chairman ofADA, and also including the finance and transport ministers.

About four-fifths of the network would be underground, including a line running under al-Olaya Street, al-Watan daily wrote on Tuesday quoting “informed sources”.

Saudi Arabiahas only limited public transport facilities andRiyadhsuffers grinding congestion for much of the day and into late evenings.

In December the government announced a 690 billion riyal ($184 billion) budget for 2012, as it seeks to boost infrastructure, education and health.

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), says that the RTA attaches special attention to disseminating knowledge and maximizing the benefits from the existing knowledge & expertise of the RTA, considering it a key component of upgrading the qualifications of employees, enhancing the production quality, and contributing to the Educated Institution concept.

“The strategy of RTA Knowledge Management 2011- 2014 incorporates the provision of infrastructure fostering knowledge management, identifying knowledge needs & resources, providing the mechanisms & methodologies for benefiting from knowledge resources, and raising the knowledge awareness of RTA employees,” he noted.

“There are more than 13 Knowledge Management initiatives run by the RTA including agreements made between the RTA and the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) for establishing Transport Center for Excellence in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) to be positioned in RTA premises, and staging a biennial congress and exhibition in Dubai for a 10-year period. This initiative is poised to make the UAE in general and Dubai Emirate in particular a public transport hub across the Middle East and North Africa.

“Initiatives also include Serco Knowledge Transfer Program; which aims to train & qualify the staff of the Rail Agency and Public Transport Agency to run the existing projects through implementing a training program for transferring the expertise of Serco Co; which is engaged with these two agencies. They also include the Pioneering Licensing Program; which aims to educate directors on policies, rules and regulations governing the business conduct in keeping with the developments taking place in their work environment in order to impart them with the essential administrative skills that assist them in discharging the duties tasked on them efficiently and effectively, and improving the corporate communication between various organizational units. Key initiatives rolled out also include Readers Club initiative; which aims to motivate employees to read and share knowledge between them through nurturing a suitable environment that fosters competition between the RTA agencies for winning the best presentations made about a management book or success story.

“The RTA has launched the “Specialized Experts Team” initiative to benefit from the specialized human resources, who enjoy extensive experience in various RTA fields, where 65 well-versed and competent experts, with high skill in various specializations, were selected from various RTA sectors and agencies. This team provides training, mentoring, personal coaching, and consulting programs. The RTA also launched the “Tacit Knowledge Listing” initiative for the RTA employees, which includes skills, hobbies and experiences in order to compile a database to be utilized in different RTA activities. It also ran “We Benefit from You” program, which reviews the distinguished administrative and technical experiences, be it related to employees or departments, with more focus on award-winning employees and projects of Dubai Government Excellence Program in order to share their knowledge and review their journey of excellence. Initiative also include the “Guidance Program”, which establishes a distinguished and direct professional relationship with one of RTA’s experts and trainees, in order to develop employees’ competencies and develop their skills and abilities.

“The RTA also established a library comprising more than 10,000 books in various knowledge fields to boost the concept of knowledge sharing between all male and female employees. It also signed an agreement with the Mohammed bin Rashid to enrich RTA Library with a diverse collection of books and specialist publications in order to refine the skills and assist employees in raising their scientific and practical base as well as raising productivity and production efficiency. The RTA has also staged the Knowledge Cup contest; which is a cultural educative contest between RTA sectors and agencies aimed at educating employees in various fields through adopting an intriguing technical style for winning the first position.

“It also launched “RTA Talents” contest, the first of its kind at government institutions level, which aims to showcase individual and collective talents of employees in various areas. The RTA has also recently launched the “RTA Scientific Research Award to identify experienced employees, and capitalize on their capacities in developing RTA’s business drive, supporting its efforts in knowledge management, and disseminating award-winning researches in international journals to broaden the benefit from them. More info

Saudi Arabian authorities have launched a tender process to develop a new metro transit system in the capital Riyadh.

Riyadh

In a notice on the Arriyadh Development Authority’s website, “global consortia” were invited to bid to provide infrastructure including rolling stock and telecommunications, as well as tunnelling, civil, mechanical and electrical works.

The notice said that suppliers had until 20 June 2012 to submit their applications for prequalification to the development authority’s headquarters in Riyadh.

No details on the network’s cost, completion date or capacity were provided on the website. More info

Dubai: The quality and standard of school transport in Dubai has seen a dramatic change since 2008, when the Dubai Executive Council issued a law to control school transport.

Since then the Roads and Transport Authority has issued detailed regulations, guidelines and specifications for buses. It has also provided training to school bus drivers and attendants, and only those who are certified by the authority can drive school buses.

“What has happened since 2008 is a big revolution. There was no law to govern school transport before, nobody was accountable and no responsibilities were assigned. There is a huge difference between what you see now and before 2008,” said Eisa Al Dossary, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency, which also governs school transport.

The basic objective of the changes was to improve safety of pupils on the road and to achieve this RTA has divided the roles and responsibilities with all parties are held accountable. “We have issued guidelines for school administrators, teachers, drivers, attendants as well as parents and students and we keep organising safety awareness campaigns in schools,” said Al Dossary. More info