Roads & Transport Authority - Archived News Details

The event, which is held biennially, is a global gathering of transport and mobility specialists from all over the world to discuss the latest technologies in the field of infrastructure of rail networks and public transport systems. The latest edition of the Exhibition drew participation of 270 firms from 34 countries, the Congress held more than 40 sessions and discussion panels, and the entire event attracted more than 25 thousand visitors. The RTA has had a mega stand spanning 156 square meters that spotlighted the public transport systems in Dubai along with the evolution and development of the public transport sector in the Emirate.

Al Tayer attended the opening session of the Congress, which was opened by HE Giuliano Pisapia, Mayor of Milan, Italy; Sir HENDY Peter, Commissioner, Transport for London, London, ‎United ‎Kingdom; HE Jasim bin Saif AL SULAITI, Minister of Transport, Qatar; HE Dr. Lina Shabeeb, Minister of Transport, Jordan; and HE Alain FLAUSCH, Secretary General of the UITP in addition to 2500 participants including transport officials and specialists from the world over.

Al Tayer stated that the growing international attention to smooth transport contributes to people’s happiness. “Achieving this goal requires linking technological systems with the existing and proposed infrastructure, and linking the technology with the public transport systems to ease the use of transport systems. It also requires integrating multi-modal transit systems, and framing up policies & legislations to keep pace with the development of transport systems such as legislations regarding car-pooling (shared cars) and the use of driverless vehicles.”

 

Tour
 

Al Tayer toured pavilions of the exhibition accompanied by Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, Member of the Board of Executive Directors; Dr. Yousef Al Ali, CEO of Public Transport Agency; Abdul Aziz Malik, Chairperson of the Higher Committee of MENA Center for Transport Excellence; and a host of Directors and engineers at the RTA. During the tour, Al Tayer reviewed the latest rail technologies including passenger carriages, electromechanical systems, interior fittings of rail carriages as well as communication & safety engineering with a view to benefiting from these systems and technologies in Route 2020 project involving the extension of the Red Line of the Dubai Metro to the site of Expo 2020. Al Tayer also toured the stands of companies specialized in manufacturing & operating buses such as VOLVO, MAN, SCANIA, and VDL where he was briefed on the new designs as well as cutting-edge and environment-friendly technologies of bus operation.

 

RTA Stand
 

At the stand of the RTA in the Exhibition, Al Tayer received a number of ministers and senior executives including HE Jasim Al Sulaiti, Minister of Transport in Qatar, where the two parties discussed means of cooperation in various aspects of public transport. He also received HE Alain FLAUSCH, Secretary General of the UITP, and discussed the latest developments and prospects of future cooperation in matters related to public transport of the region. Al Tayer held a meeting with HE Bruno Rota, President of Milan Transport, where he reviewed preparations made by the Italian Agency for hosting Expo Milan 2015 along with lessons learned in the process. He also reviewed the experience of Milan in operating and managing buses shuttling around Milan Expo. Al Tayer held a series of meetings with Dr. Jochen Skjult CEO of Siemens International; Henri Poupart-Lafarge President of Alstom; Miller Crawford; CEO of Thales; Davis Marin, CEO of DB Arriva.

Al Tayer briefed guests of RTA’s stand on public transport achievements made by RTA highlighted by the Dubai Metro, Route 2020 project, Dubai Tram, smart apps of RTA services, map of tourist landmarks in Dubai linked by public transport means, and the use of barcode to obtain a variety of information about mobility and mass transport.

The stand of RTA also displayed the UITP MENA Congress held biennially by the RTA where the next edition is scheduled in April 2016. It also included a section for the MENA Center for Transport Excellence; an information center that attends to providing the best public transport practices, training public transport specialists on the best global practices, conducting transport researches & studies, boosting cooperation & sharing expertise with transport entities & universities in the region and beyond, diffusing the public transport culture in the region, and assisting the countries of the region in obtaining the successful practices of public transport and satisfying their needs in providing mobility means for the population.

 

Strategic Partnership

Al Tayer attended a meeting held by the UITP marking the tenth anniversary of establishing the UITP MENA Office. During the ceremony Al Tayer was decorated in appreciation of RTA’s efforts in supporting the establishing of the UITP office as well as the MENA Center for Transport Excellence in 2012 and the successful hosting of the 59th UITP Congress & Exhibition in 2011 about Mobility & City Transport under the theme: Boosting Public Transport: Action!

Al Tayer accepted a trophy from HE Jasim Al Sulaiti, Minister of Transport ‎in Qatar; and HE Alain FLAUSCH, Secretary General of the UITP, ‎ in the ‎presence of ‎HE Dr. Abdul Aziz Al Ohali, President of Public Transport Authority in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

In a speech delivered during the event, Al Tayer expressed his appreciation of the partnership and the distinctive cooperation between the RTA, UITP and all countries of the region towards serving the public transport sector and sharing knowledge for a better future.

“RTA is moving ahead with its strategic plan for uplifting public transport systems with the aim of raising the share of public transport trips to 20% by 2020. In addition, pushing it further to 30% by 2030, noting that RTA has recently unveiled Route 2020 project to extend the Red Line of Dubai Metro 15 km to reach the site of Expo.

“In accordance with the Master Plan of Rail Network in Dubai, the total length of railways will extend to 110 km by 2020, extend to 200 km by 2025 and double up to 421 km by 2030. RTA is also improving and expanding the public transport routes to serve new communities. According to the Plan, the number of buses is expected to grow to 2000 buses by 2020 lifting about two million riders per day. The Plan also envisages leveraging the marine transport services including the extension of the total length of marine lines to 450 km,” explained Al Tayer.