Dubai, 9 April 2011 (WAM) -- Under the auspices of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the 59th UITP (International Association of Public Transport) Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition held under the theme "Boosting Public Transport: Action!" for the first time in the Middle East & North African Region, opens on on Sunday, 10th April 2011.
Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), welcomed the participants and attendants of the Congress& Exhibition saying: "Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, and his brother His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the UAE has witnessed extensive growth in all fields shaping it into a key commercial hub with a robust and diverse economy. The UAE succeeded in attracting many investors and business leaders, thanks to its global horizon, free economic enterprise policy, focus on delivery of best-in-class services and its excellent infrastructure in all fields; particularly in transport sector which has culminated in the opening of the Dubai Metro and the commencement of Al Ittihad Rail Project. "The UITP Congress is the pinnacle of transportation and public transport events worldwide, and the UAE has won the privilege of hosting the Congress following a fierce competition with Melbourne (Australia) and Singapore; both cities have an excellent record in transport and public transport field. Thus the UAE has become the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to win the right of hosting this Congress since the UITP was founded more than a century ago. Staging of the Congress in Dubai underpins the confidence of the international organizations and entities in the ability of Dubai to host global conventions and exhibitions, and throughout the days of the Congress Dubai will be a focal point of public transport policy makers across the globe. "The Congress and accompanying Exhibition, which will run through next Wednesday, promises to be a splendid opportunity for public transport decision makers and other key players of the transport industry who will examine the public transport's latest developments, institutional systems, technologies, corporate policies, industrial innovations and financial plans. They will also discuss practices and review the successful experiments across the world. The accompanying Exhibition offers participants from all over the world a platform to showcase their products, services and solutions in the field of transport. The Congress and Exhibition are expected to attract more than 7000 persons and about 300 companies hailing from 37 countries. The exhibition area spans 30,000 square meters i.e. 12 per cent more than the exhibition area of the last edition of the Congress held in the Austrian capital Vienna. The Exhibition encompasses about around 54 seminars, panel discussions, forums and workshops in addition to technical visits to the Bus Operations Control Center, Water Taxi, and Dubai Metro as well as introductory tours of Dubai city and cultural soirees. "Selecting by the UITP of the Dubai Emirate to stage this Congress was made following a submission of a comprehensive bid detailing its advanced infrastructure, and an integrated transit system spanning the metro, public buses, and marine transit modes. Dubai Emirate was ranked 35th in terms of the quality, organization and specifications of the infrastructure as well as the compliance with the global standards according to the classification released by City Mayors Global Organization," added Al Tayer. Integrated InfrastructureCommenting on the Dubai infrastructure Al Tayer said: "In Dubai we have an integrated public transport system considered the latest in the world. On 09/09/2009 RTA opened the Dubai Metro Red Line which has lifted last year 39 million passengers. The fleet of public buses was beefed up by 157% during the period 2006 - 2010, and the marine transit modes were upgraded to include beside the abras, the Water Bus, Water Taxi and Ferry Dubai. Public transport means have lifted in 2010 about 163 million passengers and the share of public transport means in the population movement has grown from 6 per cent to 8 per cent and we are targeting to push up the rate to as much as 30 per cent by 2020. In the last quarter of this year, RTA will operate the Dubai Metro Green Line; which extends about 23 km and spans 18 stations including 6 underground stations. The Green Line starts off Al Nahdah Street, Al Qusais, and passes through the Union Square, then across Al Ras before head towards Al Shindagha, Dubai Healthcare City and up to Al Jaddaf. In 2014 RTA will operate Phase I of Al Saffouh Tram in a sector stretching 9.5 km out of a total 14 km-long track envisaged in the Project. Phase I starts off the Marina and runs through Mall of the Emirates Station. The Tram networks covers 19 passenger stations 13 of which will be constructed in the initial phase distributed activity and population density areas along the tram track. Each tram measures 44 meters in length and has a capacity to house 300 passengers. The fleet comprises 8 trams in Phase I and 17 more will be added in Phase II to bring the fleet to 25 trains expected to lift around 5000 passengers per hour per direction."Human Factor"The most important aspect of the public transport network in Dubai is the full integration of various public transport modes such as the Metro, buses and marine transit modes. In order to manage the transport network efficiently, the RTA has developed and implemented several programs for transferring knowledge to Emiratis in order to groom them to run the network. These programs focus on train and bus operation processes and are being run in coordination with specialist world-class companies," said Al Tayer. Concluding his remark, Al Tayer expressed his thanks to the leadership of the UITP for selecting Dubai to host this important event, hoping the Congress to be a success in achieving the aspirations and vision of the UITP of doubling the share of public transport by 2025.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2011.
