Staff report www.gulfnews.com
“The share of mass transit trips increased from 6 per cent in 2008 to 12 per cent in 2010 and RTA targets to push it further to as much as 30 per cent by 2020 through counting on the Metro, public buses, water bus, water taxi and Ferry Dubai, once launched,” said Mohammad Obaid Al Mulla, Board Member and CEO of the RTA.
Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has said that among its achievements are a reduction in the road fatality rate, an expansion of the bus network and an increase in mass transit journeys.
“The share of mass transit trips increased from 6 per cent in 2008 to 12 per cent in 2010 and RTA targets to push it further to as much as 30 per cent by 2020 through counting on the Metro, public buses, water bus, water taxi and Ferry Dubai, once launched,” said Mohammad Obaid Al Mulla, Board Member and CEO of the RTA, and Chairperson of the Higher Organising Committee of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) Congress 2011.
He was speaking at the second International Transport Conference and Exhibition for the Middle East in Jordan.
“The total length of public bus network is set to expand to 3,000 km and the number of buses in operation is set to rise to 3,000…. In 2007, time wasted in traffic congestion cost $1.6 billion, while in 2009 it dropped to $1.1 billion,” Al Mulla said.
He also shared the RTA’s Strategic Plan for Public Transport 2020 and briefed the conference about the rail network set for completion by the same year; which envisages the construction of a 318km rail line and a 270km tram line.
Al Mulla also spoke about RTA Marine Transit Network stating that the 2020 plan encompasses expanding the network to about 450km to cover a seafront stretching 1,700km.
