Under the auspices and in attendance of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) celebrates on Wednesday February 10th the winning companies and organizations of the 2nd Dubai Award for Sustained Transport (DAST) 2009.

Such Awards aim at encouraging community organizations to play an active and positive role in sustained transport, reasserting the leading role of the RTA in promoting partnerships & cooperation with various entities, and bringing sustained transport issues to the forefront of local bodies and media attention.

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA announced the winning companies and organizations of the 2nd DAST; as endorsed by an independent panel of experts & specialists from outside the RTA headed by Dr. Salim Ali Al Shafi’ee. The Awards comprise four categories and two Special Recognition categories.

In the category of Special Needs Transportation Requirements the winner was Dubai Airports Co., second came Dubai Center for Special Needs, and the third position went to Emirates Driving Institute.

In the category of Transport Management, the first position was claimed by Dubai World Trade Center, while Dubai Municipality landed the second position, and Dubai Police General Head Quarters finishing third.
In Environment Conservation, the first position was clinched by ENOC Retail Co., while Land Rover Middle East & North Africa Co. finished second, and Al Futtaim Carillion Co came third.

In Transport Safety Category, Emirates Motor Sports Federation landed the first position, and the second position went to Nasser Bin Abdullatif Alserkal Est., and the third position went to Emirates Transport.
In the Special Mention, the Best Academic Research Award was bagged by Mr. Nazim Fawzi Mansour, and Mr. Roohi Abdat, and the Best Media Coverage was won by the New Commercial Medical Center.

Commenting on the Awards, RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director said: “Despite being recently introduced, Dubai Award for Sustained Transport has made tremendous success as illustrated by the huge number of initiatives subscribed resulting in a 100% increase in the number of submissions made in the second edition of the Awards compared to the first one. Besides that, there is a substantial improvement in the quality & content of submission made, coupled with a heavy participation among public & private organizations”.

Al Tayer stated that all accepted applications conforming to the stipulations of the Award were assessed by the Judging Panel based on meticulous & detailed assessment criteria in accordance with prior approved weights and grades based on main & sub criteria to ensure accuracy, objectivity and fairness in judging all assessed applications. He pointed out that submissions received have been subjected to 7 basic assessment steps starting with the receipt, scrutiny and verification of participations and ending up with the submission of final assessment results.

In its second edition, the Award comprised four categories, following the introduction of a new category vis-à-vis Special Needs Transportation Requirements category; which is concerned with any initiative or practice that addresses the mobility requirements of the disabled. The Second category (Mobility Management) aims at focusing on applicable practices and initiatives that promote the effectiveness of all types of transportation means. The third category (Environment Conservation) aims at minimizing the adverse effects of mass transportation means on the environment. The submission must include an initiative leading to minimizing the levels of air pollution resulting from various transport means, and minimizing the levels & impacts of visual pollution resulting from various mass transportation means.

The fourth category (Transport Safety) is concerned with the initiatives & practices that contribute to raising the standards of safety and security of mass transportation users through improving the performance metrics and levels related to transport means users. This is envisaged to be realized through advocating & upgrading the knowledge and commitment to safety rules and practices during the operation or use of any transportation mode, besides improving security and safety levels that render mass transportation means safer.

This in turn encompasses the application of simple or sophisticated technologies, modification of transportation means and enhancing the safety features of transportation facilities such as roads, parking lots, bus stations, railways and marine transport.
The second edition of DAST witnessed the introduction of two new categories under Special Recognition Awards; namely: Best Media Coverage; which is intended to promote the awareness of the Award, and the Best Academic Research in the field sustained transport.

Deadline extended to 15 December to attract the largest number possible of participants

The Higher Organization Committee of Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST) invited government, semi-government and private organizations and companies as well as academicians and researchers to take part in the second edition of the Award this year, in the context of efforts to showcase rich concepts and the best solutions & practices to improve and broaden sustainable transport in the emirate of Dubai.

Khalid Al Zahed, Chairperson of DAST, said that the higher committee of the Award decided to leave the door open for receiving nominations to the Award up to 15 December this year, in order to enable larger participation from public, semi-public and private entities as well as scholars and research workers in the second round of the Award 2009.

“Through launching this Award, RTA is seeking to hit a number of targets that include educating & encouraging individuals & community organizations to play a proactive and constructive role in supporting RTA to meet its objectives in upgrading the infrastructure of public transport, reasserting RTA leading role in promoting interactive partnership & cooperation with various entities & strategic partners in the field of transport, safety and conservation of the environment” said Al Zahid.

He added: “The Award also aim at showcasing sustained transport such that it will be among the top priorities of organizations, promoting the awareness and the sense of responsibility among all spectrums of the community; particularly companies & organizations. It also come in support of successful mobility, safety & environmental initiatives, advocating their application at the institutional level, and motivating creativity & innovative spirit of leadership in various mobility fields in order to achieve the maximum possible benefit.

He continued: “DAST is viewed as a practical manifestation of RTA strategy and vision of providing Safe & Smooth Transport for All to cope with the mushrooming development in the emirate of Dubai spanning commercial, economic, tourist, and real estate sectors among others. This initiative is a crucial step in leveraging the participation of the business community in the public, semi-public and private entities to join RTA efforts towards enhancing the integration of multi-modal public transport in the emirate of Dubai.

Commenting on the categories of the Award, Al Zahid stated that the Award consisted of four categories: Management & Organization of Mobility, Transport Safety, Conserving the Environment, and Special Needs; and considered these categories as pillars of sustained transport.

Management & Organization of Mobility category includes a number of initiatives & practices aiming at minimizing the heavy reliance on private vehicles in mobility, reducing the number of person trips made by private vehicles, eliminating the need for mobility on private vehicles, encouraging the use of mass transport means (such as buses, water transport & metro), promoting the use of traditional mobility methods (such as walking & cycling), improving the mobility of special needs persons, and any other initiative or practice leading to the optimum utilization to car parks.

Transport Safety category is concerned with the initiatives & practices that contribute to upgrading the level of security & safety of various transport modes, as well as enhancing the performance, standards & levels related to a number of elements, including transport means users. This is set to be achieved through focusing and improving the knowledge & compliance with safety rules and applicable practices of operating or using transport means.

 This requires improvement of the safety levels, and making all transport means (such as vehicles, buses, trucks, water transport, trains and facilities) safer, by enhancing the respective security elements such as roads, parking, bus & and railway stations, and water transport facilities among others.

Conserving the Environment category is related to any initiative or practice that may cut the negative impact of transport means on the environment through reducing air pollution levels caused by the waste of various transport means, and any initiative or practice that leads to a reduction in the noise levels or effects or optical pollution caused by transport means. It also entails any other initiatives or practices that involve the treatment and minimization of pollution levels & effects resulting from oils, batteries and other wastes of transport means through adopting modern & innovative solutions.

Special Needs category is concerned with all initiatives & practices that care for this category through providing them with the required infrastructure, modern buses (low-floor buses), designated parking slots and Dubai Metro; which provides all the required facilities for persons with body, vision and hearing impairments. The category also includes encouraging government, semi-government and private organizations to adopt such practices & applications focusing on rehabilitation and integration of this category in the community.

RTA has also introduced two new sub-categories in the second edition of the Award; the first one is the Best Academic Transport Research. The research has to focus on introducing a sustained transport case covering the main categories, analyzing the existing situation compared to the best global practices, and concluding to viable recommendations that contribute to the improvement of the transport systems in the emirate of Dubai.

This Award is the only category of DAST oriented to individuals; where all scholars and researchers, as well as universities, institutes & colleges can take part in. The second subsidiary award is the Best Media Coverage; which relates to the media coverage of events, activities and news of the Award. This Award is designed for the government, semi-government and private media organizations.

Al Zahid confirmed that the Award has made a wide-ranging response and that RTA started to receive many applications for participation in DAST from government, semi-government and private organizations. “We invite more companies and organizations to take part in the Award, and offer new and feasible concepts to enrich all aspects of roads & transport sector in the emirate of Dubai and prop-up RTA efforts in this field.

The winners will be selected by an independent panel of judges; with members including senior specialists, experts and consultants with ample knowledge & practice in this field.”

Interested participants can obtain further information about the Award and/or download the Nomination Form from RTA website: www.rta.ae.