RTA's plan to meet challenges reviewed

The Dubai Economic Council yesterday reviewed plans of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The meeting was chaired by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, who is member of the council and President of Dubai Civil Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group.

RTA Chairman of the Board and CEO Mattar Al Tayer outlined the plans and programmes of the the authority. He said the authority applied a government department management style with a commercial outlook.

Al Tayer said main transport challenges in Dubai are traffic congestion, rising fatal road accidents compared to advanced countries and limited means of transport.

The meeting focused on the main elements of the strategic plan for transport and traffic, primarily towards collective transport and the development of so-called smart transport systems in the future.

Al Tayer confirmed that there would be parking for cars in each Metro station. He said there will be sufficient parking lots at the entrances to Dubai from Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

On RTA's plan to meet the increase in road users from six per cent to 30 per cent, Al Tayer said the plan basically relied on expansion in the use of collective transport through various means such as encouraging big companies to use collective transport for employees.

Another way is to reduce the cost of public transport to attract as large number as possible of users, said Al Tayer.