The massive investments of the Dubai Government in improving the infrastructure of roads and transport have saved nearly AED220 billion (about US$60 billion) in time and fuel wasted through traffic congestions from 2006 to 2020.
This was revealed by the Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer during his keynote speech at the 18th IRF (International Road Federation) World Meeting and Exhibition, titled “Roads to Tomorrow: Dubai’s Pathway to Sustainable Mobility” on Monday.
In contrast, the total investment in the improvement of roads and transport during the same period was AED140 billion (about $40 billion).
“We have more than doubled our road network from 8,715 in 2006 to 18,255 lane km in 2020 and increased the number of vehicle bridges and tunnels 5 folds from 129 in 2006 to 844 in 2020,” Al Tayer said.
“Similarly, we have increased the number of pedestrian bridges and tunnels by four times from 26 to 125 around the same time and extended our cycling track network from nine km in 2006 to 463 km in 2020, and is expected to reach 668 km by 2025,” he added.
Al Tayer highlighted that the RTA’s projects have cemented the competitiveness of the UAE, which had consequently been ranked No. 1 in Road Quality Worldwide for 5 years in a row.
“RTA’s joint efforts with the General HQ of Dubai Police have reduced road accident fatalities from almost 22 cases to 1.8 cases per 100,000 between 2006 and 2020, and reduced pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 population from 9.5 to 0.5 between 2007 and 2020,” he said.