Source:Â www.ameinfo.com
His Excellency Michael Camuñez, Assistant US Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance commended the projects delivered by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and their contribution to easing the congestion and developing modern mass transit systems spanning Dubai Metro, public buses, and marine transit modes in addition to an extensive network of roads and bridges capable of satisfying the needs of the Emirate in future.
The American Minister was delighted with the engagement of the American companies in delivering RTA projects and stressed the importance of establishing long-lasting strategic relationships with the RTA in order to take part in the ambitious projects & programs intended to be carried out by the RTA in future.
The above statement was made during a visit of a high-ranking American delegation to the RTA where it was received by H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA; who started the meeting by welcoming the American Minister, accompanied by His Excellency Justin Seperl, the American Consul General in Dubai as well as representatives of several American companies.
Al Tayer lauded the excellent relationships between the UAE and the USA, particularly in the economic and tourist spheres; which resulted in uplifting the volume of trading exchange, investment and number of tourists between the two countries.
Al Tayer gave a brief account about RTA stating that it was established with the aim of providing effective & integrated transportation system to support the vision of Dubai Emirate, figuring out prompt solutions to improve the traffic condition, developing long-term strategic plans, and continuing with the existing projects.
The American delegation reviewed RTA’s expertise and its transition to mass transportation systems. From inception RTA was all set to make mass transit modes the ideal mobility choice of commuters in the Emirate and set an objective to raise the parentage of public transport riders from 6% in 2006 to as much as 30% in 2020.
For this end RTA constructed the Dubai Metro project which lifted about 38.888 million passengers in 2010 and the metro ridership is poised to receive a big boost next September with the operation of the Green Line which serves vital areas bustling with commercial & government activities as well as high population densities.
RTA also beefed up the public bus fleet from 619 buses at the time of its formation to more than 1400 state-of-the-art buses.
Moreover, 900 air-conditioned bus shelters were constructed to serve bus passengers all over the Emirate, and several bus depots were constructed at Al Rawiyyah, Jebel Ali, Al Khawaneej and Al Awir. In marine transit modes, RTA operated the Water Bus, Water Taxi and Ferry Dubai besides renovating 154 abras.
The delegation was also briefed on the Unified Card System (Nol Card); which is one of the most sophisticated systems introduced by the RTA to upgrade the mobility service by making it smooth and accessible to all users of transport systems including the Dubai Metro, public buses, water bus and paid parking zones.
At the end of the meeting, H.E. Mattar Al Tayer presented RTA memento to H.E. Michael Camuñez, Assistant US Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance.
