His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, reviewed the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) plan to develop the main roads in Dubai 2024-2027.

This includes the implementation of 22 projects that will benefit more than 6 million people and serve the comprehensive development plans in the emirate, with an estimated cost of about AED 16 billion.

His Highness also reviewed projects and initiatives related to self-driving transportation and the use of artificial intelligence in managing traffic and facilitating transportation in Dubai.

This came during His Highness’s visit to the RTA headquarters in Dubai, where he was received by His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the RTA, and several RTA officials.

During the visit, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum watched a presentation showing the growth in the number of public transport users, which currently transports 2.2 million passengers daily.

He also reviewed the development of the emirate’s road, bridge and bicycle path network during the period from 2006 to this year.

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His Highness listened to an explanation from His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer about the traffic indicators in the Emirate of Dubai, in which he explained that the number of vehicles in Dubai during the day reaches 3.5 million vehicles, where the percentage of increase in the number of registered vehicles in Dubai reached 10% in the past two years, compared to 2% to 4% globally.

His Highness was also briefed on the details of the RTA’s plan to implement road projects to develop it, which includes 22 projects.

The road projects in Dubai include

the development of Umm Suqeim and Al Qudra Streets, Latifa bint Hamdan Street from its intersection with Al Khail Road to Emirates Road, Al Meydan Street, Al Mustaqbal Street and the Dubai World Trade Center Roundabout, and Al Fay Street, one of the most important strategic axes in the emirate, which is an extension of Al Khail Road from its intersection with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, passing through Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street to its intersection with Emirates Road.

These projects include the implementation of tunnels and bridges that contribute to increasing the capacity in terms of the number of vehicles and help reduce travel time in the areas they pass through, benefiting millions of Dubai residents and visitors.

Dubai Tram and Trackless Tram

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum was also briefed on the Authority’s plans to expand the Dubai Tram project, by studying the implementation of a “trackless tram” in eight locations in Dubai.

It is an advanced, self-driving, environmentally friendly system that uses a virtual track that operates with cameras to track paint lines on the track.

His Highness listened to an explanation of the operational results of the Dubai Tram, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary on 11/11/2024.

The tram has completed 950,000 trips since its launch, transporting 60 million passengers. The increase in the number of passengers since its opening this year has reached 850%, and it has achieved high-performance indicators in adherence to trip schedules, reaching 99.9%.

The explanation provided to His Highness during the visit included details of the Authority’s plan to expand the lanes designated for buses and taxis during 2025 and 2026, which includes the implementation of six lanes with a length of 13 km, bringing the total length of the lanes to 20 km.

His Highness also reviewed the specifications of a self-driving bus, equipped with the latest artificial intelligence and autonomous mobility technologies to achieve the highest safety standards, with a speed of up to 40 km/h, designed as a means of short-distance transportation with a capacity ranging from 10 to 20 passengers, as well as details of the commercial transport platform project (Logistics) and its goal to support the Land Commercial and Logistics Transport Strategy 2030, and link customers with commercial transport service providers.

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum followed an explanation of the 557 km long bicycle paths, and about 44 million bicycle trips annually, while the number of flexible transportation trips reached 2.3 million trips.

His Highness also watched a presentation on the smart scanning initiative for bicycle paths, using a vehicle equipped with the latest technologies, which scans a 120 km long path in four hours.

The explanation covered the details of the safe driving system for 1,395 buses, which contributes to improving the safety level by 54% and improving the risk and violations index by 47%.

He also listened to an explanation about the performance indicators of the smart control centre, which was opened in 2021, to monitor violations of drivers of transportation activities immediately, and raise the level of control efficiency.

The number of automated violations is 47 violations out of a total of 124 violations, and the centre has contributed to monitoring 367,000 violations since its opening.

The explanation also reviewed the Authority’s efforts in training and qualifying national cadres to keep pace with the rapid technological developments, covering vital areas such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, cybersecurity, and big data management, which enhances their ability to keep pace with future changes and apply technology in various work areas, roads, bridges and bicycles.

The length of the road network increased from 8,715 lanes-km to 18,990 lanes-km, an increase of 117%. The number of lanes on Dubai Creek increased from 16 lanes to 61 lanes, an increase of 281%. The number of vehicle bridges and tunnels increased from 129 bridges and tunnels to 1,070 bridges and tunnels, an increase of 729%.

The number of pedestrian bridges and tunnels also increased from 26 bridges and tunnels to 129 bridges and tunnels during the same period, including bridges and tunnels of the Dubai Metro and Tram, an increase of 396%.

The length of the bicycle lanes network increased from 9 km to 557 km. Km, an increase of 6088%, and the Authority intends to expand the implementation of bicycle paths to link coastal areas such as Jumeirah, Al Sufouh and Marina with external paths in Al Qudra, Seih Al Salam and Nad Al Sheba, passing through Al Barsha and Dubai Hills.

Traffic

The expected annual increase in population until 2030 is estimated at 3.6%, indicating that despite the significant growth in traffic volumes, the Emirate of Dubai occupies a distinguished position on the global map in terms of travel time indicators.

For example, according to the (Tom Tom Global Index) in 2023, Dubai achieved an excellent average travel time of 12 minutes and 50 seconds to cover a distance of 10 km in the Central Business District, while it reached 16 minutes and 50 seconds in Singapore, 19 minutes in Montreal, 21 minutes in Sydney, 22 minutes in Berlin, and 36 minutes in London.

Latifa bint Hamdan Street

The Roads and Transport Authority’s plan includes the implementation of 22 projects. Next year, the Latifa bint Hamdan Street development project will be implemented from its intersection with Al Khail Street to Emirates Road, with a length of 12,200 metres.

It includes the construction of bridges with a length of 8,100 metres. The project serves more than one million people and contributes to providing additional capacity to the road network, estimated at 16,000 vehicles per hour in both directions and reducing travel time by 15 to 20%.

The plan includes the implementation of the Al Meydan Street development project, which includes the construction of roads with a length of 10,600 metres, two bridges with a length of 3,300 metres, and three tunnels with a length of 1,500 metres.

The project will benefit about one million people and contribute to providing additional capacity to the road network, at a rate of 22,000 vehicles per hour in both directions and reducing travel time from Umm Suqeim Street to the extension of Al Meydan Street to four minutes.

Al Mustaqbal Street

The Al Mustaqbal Street and Dubai World Trade Center Roundabout development project includes the construction of bridges and tunnels with a length of 6,200 meters.

The project contributes to increasing the capacity from 9,000 vehicles per hour to 12,000 vehicles per hour, an increase of 30%. It also contributes to reducing the travel time from eight minutes to three minutes and 30 seconds.

The project serves more than half a million residents and visitors.

The Authority has awarded the contract for the Trade Center Roundabout development project, which includes the construction of five bridges with a length of 5,000 meters, providing free traffic movement in all directions.

This converts the roundabout into a surface intersection controlled by traffic signals, to enhance the smoothness of traffic movement, and contributes to reducing the delay rate from 12 minutes to 90 seconds at the intersection.

The Authority will award the contract for the Al Mustaqbal Street development project by the end of this year.

He also reviewed the plan for the Umm Suqeim and Al Qudra Street development project, starting from the Jumeirah Street intersection to the Emirates Road intersection with a length of 16,000 meters, and the development of four intersections, including the construction of bridges with a length of 2,500 meters, and tunnels with a length of 2,000 meters.

It contributes to increasing the capacity from 8,400 vehicles per hour to 12,600 vehicles per hour and reducing the travel time from 46 minutes to only 11 minutes. The number of beneficiaries of the street is estimated at more than 800,000 people.

Al Fay and Al Safa Development

The Al Fay Road development project, which is one of the most important strategic axes in the emirate, is an extension of Al Khail Road from its intersection with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road, passing through Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street and up to its intersection with Emirates Road.

It includes the construction of roads with a length of 12,900 meters, and the development of five intersections, through the construction of bridges with a length of 13,500 meters.

The project contributes to providing an additional capacity of 64,400 vehicles per hour, and the number of beneficiaries of the road is estimated at 600,000 people.

He also listened to an explanation of the Al Safa Road development project from the intersection of Sheikh Zayed Road to the intersection of Al Wasl Road, which includes the construction of tunnels with a length of 2,100 meters, including a tunnel with a capacity of two lanes from Al Safa Street to the City Walk project as a direct entrance, as well as the construction of bridges with a length of 650 meters, which contribute to increasing the road’s capacity from 6,800 vehicles per hour to 9,400 vehicles per hour and reducing the travel time from 20 minutes to only two minutes.

The number of beneficiaries of the project is estimated at 358 thousand people.

Tram without tracks

The trackless tram project is an advanced self-driving system that uses a virtual track, which operates with a camera tracking system for paint lines on the track.

It is an environmentally friendly system that runs on electric power and is characterized by low cost and shorter implementation time compared to traditional tram projects. Each train includes three cars that can accommodate 300 passengers.

The maximum speed is 70 kilometres per hour, while the operating speed ranges from 25 to 60 kilometres per hour. The tram can travel a distance of 100 kilometres on a single charge.

Dedicated bus and taxi lanes

The RTA’s plan to expand dedicated bus and taxi lanes during 2025 and 2026 includes the implementation of six lanes with a length of 13 km, bringing the total length of the lanes to 20 km.

The lanes will contribute to increasing the number of passengers by 10%, improving the bus arrival rate by 42%, reducing bus travel time by 41%, encouraging the use of public transport, and reducing traffic congestion.

They also contribute to supporting the Dubai Self-Driving Transport Strategy 2030. The economic benefits of the lanes are expected to reach about AED 2.3 billion over 10 years.

These lanes will meet the requirements for operating self-driving electric buses.

Commercial Transport Platform

The Commercial Transport Platform (Logistics) project is an electronic platform in partnership with the private sector to develop commercial transport services for customers and the business sector.

This manages the fleet of commercial logistics vehicles, provide on-demand booking and tracking services, verify vehicle and driver evaluation, and provide a reliable database and registration.

Smart Bicycle Path Survey

The Smart Bicycle Path Survey initiative aims to develop strategies and programmes for preventive, predictive and proactive maintenance of bicycle paths and their assets, to ensure the quality of paths, raise the level of safety for users, and enhance the sustainability of path assets.

Safe Driving System

Safe Driving System: (Green Road), a system to alert drivers of 1,395 public transport buses immediately about traffic safety violations, and to monitor and display the behaviour of bus drivers, to identify rapid turns, exceeding the speed limit, sudden braking, sudden lane changes, and unsafe acceleration.

Academic Scholarship

The Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai has sent 44 employees and students to complete academic studies to obtain doctorates, masters, bachelors, and professional diplomas in specializations covering artificial intelligence, big data, data management and analysis, and computer science.

In addition the authority offers academic scholarship programs for high school graduates in the specializations of computer science, cybersecurity engineering, electronic security, artificial intelligence, computing systems, information technology, computer engineering, automatic intelligence, and data analysis.

Moreover, it provides 375 specialized and professional training courses for more than 1,400 trainees in nine advanced technical programs.

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