Source: www.rta.ae
H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), recently received H.E. Mohammed Abdi Hilo, Ambassador of the Kenyan Republic to the UAE, H.E. Nadolo Welfred, Manager of Nairobi Municipality, and other delegation members from various Kenyan departments and organizations.
During the meeting the Kenyan delegation reviewed RTA expertise in solving traffic congestions in a record time and encouraging the transition into using mass transit systems. The two parties also discussed the cooperation and exchange of expertise between the RTA and its Kenyan counterpart.
RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director briefed the Kenyan Ambassador on the key projects currently undertaken by the RTA such as improving roads network and constructing new crossings across Dubai Creek; where the number of crossings has jumped from 19 lanes at the time of establishing the RTA to 48 lanes. He also touched on the construction and widening of key roads such as the Dubai Bypass Road, Emirates Road, Al Khail Road, and the Parallel Roads Project. He also highlighted the Dubai Metro project extending 75 km in the Red and Green Lines, Safouh Tram, and marine transport projects which include the water bus, water taxi and Ferry Dubai, as well as upgrading public transport bus fleet through buying more buses and building stations to serve passengers.
“The UAE in general and Dubai in particular is witnessing huge development that led to an influx of peoples and business; which warranted preparing various types of infrastructure, such as road networks and transport modes (metro, marine transport means, buses, taxis, .. etc) to cater for the rising numbers in population, projects and urbanization,” said Al Tayer.
“Dubai Government has pumped huge investments to uplift the infrastructure of transportation sector and encourage the public to use mass transit systems. Now there is a shift in the culture of using public transport by all segments of the community. Statistics reveal that RTA public transport means, including the Dubai Metro, public buses, water transport and taxis, have lifted more than 288.777 million passengers in 2009 and the daily ridership of mass transit modes topped 842k passengers. This number is likely to grow with the opening of the remaining stations on the Red Line. Dubai Metro is expected to lift about 35 million passengers in 2010, and the number of metro users is expected to pick up sharply with the operation of the Green Line in August 2011 as this line serves vital areas with commercial activities, government offices and high population density,” added Al Tayer in a final remark.
For his part the Kenyan Ambassador praised the speed of infrastructure projects delivery in the RTA as seen in the construction of road projects, Dubai Metro, modernization of public bus fleet and the integration of mass transit systems. He particularly commended the Dubai Metro project with its magnificent design, high quality finishing and excellent service to passengers. He expressed the intention of Kenyan Government to benefit from RTA expertise in modernizing mass transit systems, solving traffic jams in major Kenyan cities, and developing transport infrastructure to contribute to the economic growth by injecting more investments, enhancing trade exchange and increasing the number of tourists.
