Route 2020 Trains in French Elegance · Salem Al-Moosa Ramadan Majlis hosts RTA’s Customer...

Route 2020 Trainsin French Elegance

The Official Monthly Magazine of Dubai`s RTAIssue No. 110 August 2017

VisionSafe and Smooth Transport for All

MissionDevelop and Manage integrated and sustainable Roads and transportation systems at a world-class level, and provide pioneered services to all.

stakeholders for their happiness, and support Dubai’s vision through Shaping the future, preparing policies and legislations, adopting.

technologies and innovations, and implementing world-class practices and Standards.

VisionMission

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His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai, wants the government entities in Dubai to apply today what other cities of the world will apply after 10 years.

To achieve this initiative, the first of its kind worldwide, His Highness has launched Dubai 10X initiative steered by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince, Chairman of the Executive Council and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation, and His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Deputy Chairman of the Executive Council.

His Highness Sheikh Mohammed always prompts his teams to think out-of-the-box to induce the change required, which warrants re-defining the concept and business models of government entities as this drive is crucial to enhancing the profile of Dubai amongst the world metropolis.

In keeping with this trend, and in alignment with our core business, we have visited France with a specialized team from RTA, to have a first-hand knowledge of the most advanced and smart transport and mobility systems in the industry.

The visit offered us a great insight about the latest innovations and research undertaken by prominent research establishments in the fields of transportation and customer service. For instance, we were acquainted with the smart rental of electric vehicles in Lyon and challenges encountered in the operation and maintenance of vehicles.

We were also introduced to the 12-seater smart bus branded Navya, the driverless tram, and the electric bus (APTIS) which has a design similar to the tram and a low floor. We were also familiarized with the smart software used in managing and analyzing passenger information through artificial intelligence as well as the balloon concept used in monitoring the city at elevations over the flying height of aero planes.

In implementation of the principle to start from where others have finished and the learnt lessons methodology, RTA has introduced changes and additions to the interior design of the new metro carriages under manufacturing by the French Alstom Company for Route 2020 Project. Changes included dedicating the last carriage for women and children, and realigning the seats to be transversal in the Gold Cabin and longitudinal in the Silver Cabin as well as women and children’s carriage.

New designs have been introduced to handles, lighting and locations of digital screens (VBSD). A dynamic illuminated map is being designed for the metro route and stations and the LED power-saving system will be used. The luggage compartment will be redesigned to enable using it for standing commuters, and the exterior shape of Dubai Metro carriages will remain unchanged to maintain the design identity of Dubai Metro with its familiar colours to the public.

Under the leadership of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai is in a continuous race with the future, and seeks to cut short the time to catch up with the futuristic requirements. RTA is doing every effort to roll out and implement innovative ideas that contribute to this limitless ambition.

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer Director General and Chairman ofthe Board of Executive Directors

Made in France

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Registration for 1st IRF MENA Regional Congress & Exhibition opens

Work on Airport St. Improvement Project clocks 50%

New diversions on Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road

New Traffic Amendments on Ibn Battuta Roads and Surrounding Areas

Entitling clients to own issued number plates

«Route 2020 Trains» in a French Elegance.Dubai street alert the motorists with red color.

Completing a multi-level building of 805 parking lots.

Our projects

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Our news

GENERAL SUPERVISORMoza Saeed Al marri

EDITOR IN CHIEFAlMoatasem Belah Mohammed

MANAGING DIRECTOR Mohammed Al Munji

EDITING MANAGERNashwan Mahmood

PHOTOGRAPHYSahir Babu

DESIGN &MARKETING

Art DirectorSaid Mansour

CONTACT USP.O.Box: 118899 Dubai,U.A.ETel : +971 4 2902638

Fax: +971 4 2903933Email: [email protected]

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Reciprocal Ads Initiative

Al Masar magazine Editorial Board offers the Reciprocal Ads initiative whereby a space for an advert is allocated to strategic partners and other government entities against allocating the same space in the magazine of the beneficial entity during the same month for the benefit of the RTA.

CONTENT

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Starting trial run of new bus compatible with Euro 6 standards.

Realigning «Child Safety» Program with Ministry of Interior’s amendments.

«8009090» reaps 5 new awards

Sharing success stories of DAST winners.

A partial closure of Metro Red Line as part of Route 2020 project completion.

Implementing the federal law governing Driver License validity.

Deadline for registration in Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management extended.

DTC adds hybrid vehicles to limo fleet.

Dubai Taxi launches ‘Smart Tow’ to assist broken down vehicles.

349 inspections on vehicles of driving learning institutes.

Briefing Residency & Foreigners Affairs on governance practices.

Highlighting Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Italy.Circular bus route as Naif Road maintenance starts.

Launching the new update of the «Salama» Magazine App.

‘AJYAL’ embraces secondary school and university students.

Salem Al-Moosa Ramadan Majlis hosts RTA’s Customer Council.

Our services

Society safety

Activities

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Activities


Al Tayer inspects work progress in manufacturing new trains in FranceRTA Chairman reviews latest transit means, smart systems A delegation from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), headed by HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has visited France to check the work progress in the manufacturing of 50 new trains for Dubai Metro. These trains will be supplied by the French ALSTOM Company as part of Route 2020 Project. The delegation also reviewed the latest developments in tran-sit modes and smart systems in a bid to realise the 10X initiative of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, and Ruler of Dubai. Such initiative aims to sustain the competitiveness of Dubai rendering it a city for the future through innovative ideas & solutions that run 10 years ahead of other cosmopolitan cities.

Our News

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Transversal seats for Gold Cabin, longitudinal seats for Silver Class w


Illuminated dynamic map for metro route.

Our News

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modifying the design of the luggage compartment to make it usable by standing commuters. Improvements also cover the shape and the number of handles, the use of modern digital display systems, distributing seats at the two sides of the train and increasing the gangway connecting between carriages. The new carriages are cus-tomised to the use of People of Determination and the smooth boarding and alighting of riders. “Work in Route 2020 Project is progressing according to the approved schedule and the achievement rate had ex-ceeded 12%. The Project Contractor is currently inserting piles at a depth of 25 to 30 meters, and works had started in casting concrete pillars of the metro viaduct. This stage would be a milestone in the progress chart of the project works marking the emergence of the project components, which would be visible to road users and inhabitants of nearby areas,” added Al Tayer.Route 2020 extends approximately 15 km from Na-kheel Harbour and Tower Station on the Red Line, comprising 11.8 km as an elevated track and 3.2 km as an underground track. It has seven stations, including

During the visit, Al Tayer and the accompanying dele-gation comprising several officials of RTA’s Rail Agency inspected the progress in the manufacturing of 50 new trains for the Dubai Metro. The French ALSTOM Company has a contract with the RTA to supply 50 trains 15 of which will serve Expo 2020 and the other 35 trains will upgrade the level of service of Dubai Metro.The RTA has introduced some additions and modifications to the interior design of the metro carriages such as dedi-cating the last carriage for ladies and children and leaving part of the first carriage for the Gold Class and other car-riages for Silver Class. Seats will be transversal in the Gold Class, and longitudinal in the Silver Class as well as Ladies & Children Carriage. The exterior design of trains will re-main as it is to maintain the design identity of the Dubai Metro and its familiar colours to the public, said Al Tayer. “Additions include revamping the designs without affec-cting the identity through new designs for the handles, lighting, and locations of digital signage (VBSD). They also include an illuminated dynamic map for the metro route & stations, using LED power-saving lighting system, and


International Experience Al Tayer and the accompanying delegation have met with government officials in the city of Lyon, and an array of in-ternational firms specialised in transportation and smart systems. During his visit to the city, Al Tayer viewed the Transit-Oriented Development project and the latest technologies of Variable Signage. RTA delegation met with Mr David Kimelfeld, Acting President for the Grand

an interchange station, one station at Expo site, 3 el-evated stations and 2 underground stations. The ca-pacity of Route 2020 is 46 thousand riders per hour in both directions (23 thousand riders per hour per di-rection). The ridership of the Route is expected to hit 125 thousand riders per day by 2020 and the number is expected to shoot up to 275 thousand riders per day by 2030.

Designs for handles & lighting

Our News

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Lyon Metropolis, and discussed the best practices & solu-tions of city mobility legislations & policies as well as the innovative projects of upcoming firms in the field of trans-port. RTA delegation then visited Bluely Company to re-view their practices in smart car-sharing and smart rental of electric vehicles in the city along with the challenges encountered in operation & maintenance of vehicles. The delegation also inspected the autonomous bus of Navya Company and attended a briefing about the smart solu-

tions & systems offered in the bus which accommodates 12 riders.Al Tayer and the delegation also visited the capital of France, the city of Paris, where they were acquainted with the innovations of ALSTOM and RATP in transportation, innovative services and smart cities. Such innovations include the driverless tram and the electric bus (APTIS) characterised by low & integrated floor, seamless pan-oramic 360° view, 2 or 3 broad doors enabling the smooth


RTA delegation concluded its tour by visiting Thales Com-pany where they reviewed smart solutions in managing and analysing passenger information through artificial in-telligence, and the latest technology in the filed of auton-omous vehicles.

boarding and alighting of riders as well as the movement of wheelchairs and strollers. The bus features simple maintenance processes, longer lifespan, and saving 25% of space need for turns at curves due to 4-wheel steering, rendering them better of use in cities.

Our News

During the reception accorded H.E Mattar Al Tayer and the companying delegation by H.E David Kimmel, May-or of Lyon, Mrs. Laila Faridoon, Executive Director of the Office of Director General and Chairman of the Exec-utive Directors’ Office delivered a presentation on the Award whose total prizes valued to USD $550,000. “The Award aims to explore, encourage, promote and empower innovation in project management through the development of project management methodology in an innovative way. It also aims to avail a database in-cluding the best practices, project management models, introduce a platform to exchange innovative ideas and train on project management skills. The Award targets the international business community that includes two

categories, namely project management specialists and experts, and individuals, teams and institutions that are concerned with project management, programs or port-folios,” said Faridoon. “The Award is considered an incentivizing tool for inno-vation leaders, innovation teams and innovative ideas within different institutions. It is also regarded a reference for the innovation best practices in project management that contributes to creating an innovation system in proj-ects. This system is based on methodologies as well as individual innovations. The selection of winners will be done according to two criteria, namely the innovation methodology in the project and the innovation effect on the project outcomes,” she added.

Introducing the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management

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Registration for 1st IRF MENA Regional Congress & Exhibition opens Events scheduled from 29-31 October 2017The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai is gearing up for hosting the in-augural International Road Federation (IRF) Middle East & North Africa (MENA) Regional Congress & Exhibition during the period 29-31 October 2017. Scores of specialists & experts from all over the globe will take part in the event to share expertise and engage in discussions about future concepts of traffic & roads. The Congress will see the presentation of 100 papers, host 200 speakers and hold 50 sessions.

Engineer Maitha bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic & Roads Agency announced the start of registration of all par-ticipants interested in the Congress via the website (https://merc.irf.global/). Participation is welcomed be it for acquiring experience, presenting a paper, or taking part in the accompanying exhibition, which hosts the lat-est technologies of specialist firms worldwide.“The 3-day Congress will be held under the theme: Mo-bility Solutions for the 21st Century. It will hold 50 ses-sions through which specialists & experts will present more than 100 papers. Papers will discuss a variety of fields relating to innovation in smart cities, road safe-ty designs, smart transit systems, pavements & asset management, partnerships & finance, and issues of rel-evance to the environment and sustainability. “The Congress will attract about 200 prominent speak-ers hailing from 50 countries. Participants include trans-port ministers, CEOs, specialists, experts, manufactur-ers, developers, legislators, decision makers, firms & establishments, and concerned business leaders. They will bring to the world the latest technologies & innova-tions in the vital traffic and roads industry.

“The event offers a great opportunity for specialised global entities to showcase their latest products, ser-vices and solutions under one roof. It also offers visitors, such as businesspersons, investors and decision makers from different countries, a platform to familiarise them-selves with the latest scientific & technological ad-vancements of road networks. More than 70 exhibitors will be exhibiting products over an area spanning three thousand square meters. “The Congress aims to examine the best practices and exchange knowledge in the field of road safety and smart systems. During the Congress, winners of the Global Road Achievement Awards will be honoured in various categories. The IRF was established in 1948 and has 115 members,” she added.Engineer Abdullah Al-Mogbel, Chairman of the IRF, said, “This Congress, which is part of the concerted ef-forts of GCC and MENA countries, seeks to nurture an integrated, smart and sustainable road network to drive the economic growth in the region. It offers a great chance to share ideas and innovations, besides opening new horizons for traffic & road experts.”

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Work on Airport St. Improvement Project clocks 50% First stage set for opening this DecemberHE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Di-rectors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), announced that construction works have reached 50% on the First Contract of Improvement of Airport Street Project covering Rashidiya & Casablanca Intersections. He also reported that completion rate had reached 50% for the Second Contract covering Nad Al Hamar and Marrake-ch Intersections. Al Tayer expects the 1st Phase of the Project to be opened in De-cember this year, and the entire project, which has a cost tag of AED404 million to be completed in the first half of 2018.

Al Tayer made this statement following a recent inspection visit to the project site where he attended a briefing about the prog-ress rate on each phase of the Project. Works completed so far include Al Khawaneej-bound Bridge at Al Rashidiya Intersection and one out of 5 bridges at Marrakech Intersection in the same direction. Works in a tunnel at Marrakech Intersection will start this July. The progress in construction works has reached 70% in the flyover at Nad Al Hamar Intersection, whereas completion rate in the flyover at Casablanca Intersection has reached 50%. The Project comprises the construction of bridges, a tunnel at Marrakech Intersection, and bridges at Rashidiya Intersection as well as the Airport St. junctions with Casablanca St. and Nad Al Hamar St. It also includes improving at-grade intersections, and constructing a service road of 3 lanes in each direction to sepa-rate the traffic movement from and to Nad Al Hamar St. from the traffic on the Airport St. starting from Rashidiya Intersec-tion up to Marrakech Intersection. The project will increase the capacity of the Airport St. by an additional 5000 vehicles per hour, enhance the traffic safety level, and reduce the transit time on the Airport St. from Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road to Casablanca St. from 30 minutes to 5 minutes.“The Improvement of Airport St. Project is part of RTA’s plans to accommodate the projected growth in the number of passen-gers using the Dubai International Airport which is expected to shoot to 92 million passengers by 2020. Thus the traffic study highlighted the importance of finalising the Improvement of the Airport St. Project by the end of 2017,” continued Al Tayer.The Improvement of the Airport St. Project encompasses the

Improvement of Rashidiya Intersection through constructing a bridge on the Airport St. of 3 lanes in each direction; which is expected to slash the waiting time at the intersection from 13 minutes to less than one minute. It also includes upgrading the intersection of the Airport–Nad Al Hamar Streets through the construction of an additional bridge of two lanes in each direction


to serve the traffic from Nad Al Hamar St. heading towards the Airport St. The project will ease the current snarls resulting from the overlapping traffic at Nad Al Hamar Intersection between the first circular slopes heading to the left, from Nad Al Hamar St. to the Airport St. It will also ease the traffic movement on the second circular slope heading left, from the Airport St. to Nad Al Hamar St. The vehicular traffic on the first circular slope will be restricted to U-turns in the direction of Nad Al Hamar St.“The Project also includes the improvement of Marrakech-Air-port Streets intersection through the construction of a flyover of three lanes in each direction on the Airport St. along with a ramp stretching from the bridge directly to Terminal 3 of Dubai Inter-national Airport, thus bypassing the waiting at the light signal. It also includes the construction of a tunnel of 2 lanes in each di-rection to serve the leftward-bound traffic from the Airport St. in the direction of Marrakech St., which will reduce the waiting time at the intersection from seven minutes to less than one minute.“Upgrading the Airport–Casablanca Streets Intersections in-cludes the construction of an additional single-lane bridge to serve the traffic from the Airport St. in the direction of Casablan-

ca St. eliminating the waiting time at the light signal. It also in-cludes the construction of an alternative street for traffic inbound from Al Garhoud enabling direct access to Terminal 1 and 3 of the Dubai International Airport, besides increasing the number of lanes of Casablanca St. in the direction of Al Garhoud from 3 to 4 lanes. These improvements will reduce the total waiting time at Casablanca Intersection from three minutes to one minute, and ease the existing tailbacks generated by the overlap between traffic between vehicles heading towards Casablanca Intersec-tion and vehicles coming from Terminal 1 heading leftwards to Casablanca St.,” explained Al Tayer.“The RTA is proceeding with the upgrading of the infrastructure of road networks and mass transit systems in Dubai Emirate by figuring out integrated solutions for land and marine transit sys-tems that are safe for users and compatible with the Dubai Stra-tegic Plan 2021. Such solutions are intended to respond to the needs of hosting Expo 2020, serve the demographic growth, and encourage the development & investments across the Emirate,” added the Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA.

RTA completes multi-level staff parking terminal 805 parking slots and conforms to Green Economy requirementsThe Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has completed the construction of a multi-level parking building for employees at the back of its Head Office complex. The facility, costing about AED62.677 million spans an area of more than 26 thousand square meters and conforms to the green economy requirements.

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Al Tayer: The building caters to the Needs of People of Determination

“The construction of the parking terminal stems from RTA’s keenness to nurture a suitable working environ-ment for employees, make them happier and save the time wasted in searching for parking slots. The con-struction of this building is part of our Government’s strategies aimed at providing every convenience to employees and charge them to act vigorously to en-hance customers’ happiness. Boosting customers’ happiness is the ultimate objective of our visionary leaders’ strategy to make Dubai a happy place for in-ternal & external customers alike,” said HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA.“The building, which has a total area of 26,235 square meters, comprises of five levels & a rooftop and ac-commodates 805 vehicles. It has three entry points;

one of them leads to Level 2 directly and two exit points; one of them leads to Marrakech Street. The facility has two entry points for pedestrians and five emergency exits,” explained Al Tayer.“The design of the building caters to the needs of Peo-ple of Determination where 12 parking slots have been designated for them. It has 43 slots for parking hybrid and electric vehicles. It conforms to the standards of green buildings and uses environment-friendly tech-nologies to minimise power consumption. The RTA has signed a MoU with Dubai Carbon Centre for the construction of solar sheds to generate electricity that meets 70% of the electric power needed to run the terminal. The initiative will reduce power consumption by 5% which saves about 213 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.


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New diversions on Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road

RTA introduces new traffic changes to Ibn Battuta Street, surrounding areas under Route 2020

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai announces the introduction of traffic diversions on Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road part of construction works of Route 2020 Project.

period. The project teams and contractors will do their best to ensure a smooth traffic flow and mini-mize the impact on residents until completion of all project works. “These parties are keen on construct-ing the infrastructure of Route 2020 according to the plan and timetable set to ensure smooth traffic flow on roads and internal roads of residential and busi-ness complexes affected by this strategic project,” added Al Marzouqi.Al-Marzouqi called upon motorists and road users to pay attention to traffic diversions and follow the

Adel Al Marzouqi, Director of the Right-of-Way at RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said, “The traffic di-versions will remain in place until the completion of the works required. Minor changes will be made in the lanes of Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road in both directions to make room for casting the piers of Dubai Metro’s elevated track in the median, while maintaining the same number of the existing lanes.” “RTA has set up a plan for the temporary traffic di-versions of Route 2020, which will be undertaken over several phases during the project construction

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has initiated several changes in streets linked with works in progress of Route 2020 Project. Changes include traffic diver-sions in several roads & streets of the Emirate passing through residential & com-mercial complexes. They also include areas under development by Nakheel Proper-ties, especially in Ibn Battuta Street and surrounding areas. Changes are undertaken as part of works for completing Route 2020 Project.

Traffic diversions under this phase cover areas surround-ing Ibn Battuta Street namely: Discovery Gardens, The Gardens, Al Furjan and other districts developed by Na-kheel Properties. The traffic diversions result in reducing the number of lanes from three to two in each direction along Ibn Battuta Street between Street 2 and Street 6. Work has started in May 2017 and will continue until the project completion. Changes also include widening Street 1A parallel to Ibn Battuta Street such that it will

be a dual carriageway of two lanes in each direction in-stead of a street of a single-lane in each direction; which will enhance the traffic flow. Works will start in August this year and continue until the project completion.The traffic changes also include closing the entrance in the direction of Street 1A from Streets 2, 2A and 4, where water & electricity line extensions are protected. Ibn Bat-tuta had previously been closed from Street 11 to Street 13, and a temporary U-Turn had been made at Street 11.


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التعديالت المرورية الحالية في منطقة ابن بطوطة

Construction works started last March and will continue until the end of the Project. The RTA is keen on ensuring the smooth flow of traffic on all streets and roads of the Emirate in line with its vi-sion of providing safe and smooth transport for all, and the progress of works in all infrastructure projects such

directional signs to ensure their safety and avoid con-gestions that may trigger traffic jams for extended

periods. “Works will continue day-and-night until the completion of Route 2020 Project,” he concluded.

as roads, bridges and tunnels. The RTA is also commit-ted to improving the public transport network in the city such as Route 2020 Project. It calls upon residents, vis-itors and businessmen in the said communities to abide by the traffic & directional signs guiding to the traffic di-versions in place.

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Starting trial run of new bus compatible with Euro 6 standards

Entitling clients to own issued number plates

HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched the test run of a VDL bus, the first bus to join RTA fleet compatible with the European Emis-sions Standards (Euro 6). Such buses are characterized by their lightweight and low fuel consumption.

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has run an initiative whereby customers can own number plates issued (not owned) for their registered vehicles or retained in their traffic files. Customers can own these plates after paying 25% of the total prescribed value of the number plate in question, and the remainder has to be paid in three installments. However, the payment period must not exceed one calendar year or the fiscal year of the payment period. To avail this offer, customers are required to apply at the Financial Ser-vices Office and its telephone # is 04-2902711 at the RTA Head Office. Plates offered under this initiative relate to old Codes (A, B and C). The initiative is part of RTA’s efforts to achieve customers’ satisfaction and realize its third strategic goal (People Happiness) through responding to customer needs & expectations.

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“This initiative would be on offer at the RTA Head Office where individuals interested in owning their issued li-censing plates would be entitled to trade in those plates through selling or granting them without being running into legal issues,” according to Sultan Al Marzooki, Di-rector of Vehicle Licensing, RTA’s Licensing Agency. “To own a plate number a customer must pay 25% of the prescribed value of it, and the rest has to be settled within one calendar or fiscal year. The number can be owned as soon as the first installment is paid, but the applicant would not be entitled to trade in it before the

full amount is made during the said period. The initiative underlines our efforts to maximize the satisfaction of our customers, who are the backbone of RTA’s strategy, through meeting their requirements in the most conve-nient manner,” he added. “The initiative illustrates RTA’s policy towards realizing its third strategic goal (people happiness) through adopt-ing the best practices in delivering its services. It is also aligned with the directions of our government aimed at ranking Dubai as a perfect place for living,” added Al Marzooki.

“RTA attaches high priority to conserving the environment and optimizing power consumption as Safety & Envi-ronmental Sustainability is part & parcel of RTA’s strate-gic goals. This drive is in line with the national initiative launched by HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Mak-toum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in 2012 calling for building a Green Econo-my in the UAE under the theme: ‘Green Economy for Sus-tainable Development.’ The move conforms to the Dubai Government’s energy & carbon control strategy seeking to make Dubai a model to be emulated in power effi-ciency and low emissions. The trial operation of the new VDL Bus signals RTA’s keenness to revamp its public bus fleet to keep pace with the top practices worldwide and offer top of the range services to public transport riders in Dubai,” said Al Tayer.“RTA will put the new bus on a trial operation for six months to assess the economic feasibility and environ-

mental benefits of its operation. It would also examine the reduction in carbon emission rate, engine efficiency, and maintenance cost among other perimeters,” added RTA’s Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Ex-ecutive Directors. Al Tayer inspected the new VDL bus and attended a briefing about the technical specifications of the bus. It weighs about 9650 KG, which is remarkably lower than the weight of the older model of VDL bus being 11200 KG. The new bus has a seating capacity of 45 riders where-as the older version has seats for 34 riders. The new bus has an improved fuel efficiency at a rate ranging from 10 to 15% and a lower carbon emission rate, which brings the carbon footprint of the new bus to the barest minimum to match the highest European standards. It has a low-floor entry to facilitate the movement of the People of Deter-mination. It also has high-class finishing standards with wide seats offering full convenience to riders.

Our Services

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Lifting 2.89 million riders used PT during Eid Al-Fitr

Enabling payment via IVR System

The Roads and Transport Authority revealed the total ridership of public trans-port means in Dubai during Eid Al-Fitr holiday had reached 2,891,557 riders.

Nasir Hamad Bu Shehab, CEO of Strategy & Corporate Governance Sector, RTA, said, “During Eid Al-Fitr holiday, the Dubai Metro has lifted 1,500,899 riders shared be-tween the Red Line (980,278 riders) and the Green Line (520,621 riders). The Dubai Tram has served 55,889 rid-ers, public buses lifted 1,153,555 riders and marine trans-port carried 181,214 riders. The RTA has charted out a comprehensive plan for man-aging public transport movement during Eid Al-Fitr holi-day; which is marked by intense traffic especially in certain hotspots like Dubai Mall-Burj Khalifa downtown, Deira Palm and the Dubai Water Canal. The Plan was devel-oped to ensure the integration of mass transit systems and the traffic systems to ensure a smooth mobility of people from and to those areas.

“Payment by the Credit Card through the IVR System of the Call Center (8009090) was first run on a trial basis for payment of traffic fines. After proving a success, the experiment was generalized to numerous other services in cooperation with Avaya. Such services include payment for driver license renewal, replacement of lost/damaged driving licenses, renewal of vehicle registration, replacement of lost/damaged vehicle registration

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), in cooperation with the digital communications specialist company Avaya, has enabled the credit card payment service through the Pay-ment Gateway of RTA Call Center (8009090). Customers can now use the IVR System of the Call Center to pay for traffic fines, driver license renewal, replacement of lost/dam-aged driving licenses, renewal of vehicle registration, replacement of lost/damaged vehi-cle registration, and the addition of the new Dubai Brand Vehicle Plate. Adding this feature reflects RTA’s keenness to save customers’ time and effort, serves RTA’s third Strategic Goal ‘People Happiness’ and conforms to the Smart City drive of Dubai Government.

and the addition of the new Dubai Brand Vehicle Plate,” said Ahmed Mahboub, Executive Director of Customer Service, RTA’s Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector. “The system is capable of blocking the potentials of cyber fraud when the credit card is lost, and an attempted use by unauthorized persons is detected. This feature is accessible through a series of steps generated by the system to the user. Thus, users of


A new phase of »Your Memorable Moments on Your Vehicle‘s Plate»

Sultan Al Marzouqi, Director of Vehicles Licensing, RTA’s Licensing Agency, said: “The U Code number plates bear-ing dates from 1967 to 2017 will be issued, once available on the list of plates in RTA’s website. The total cost of the plate is AED1620. Customers can buy their number plates from Customers Happiness Centres all over Dubai, ser-vice providers, strategic partners, RTA website (www.rta.ae), or the smart app ‘Drivers & Vehicles’. This stage fits well with the intention of adding to people’s happiness in

Ramadan and the joyous Eid AL-Fitr.“This phase, of ‘Your Memorable Moments on Your Vehi-cle’s Plate’ initiative, follows the remarkable turnout seen by previous phases of Code “S” and “T” for the dates from 1981 to 1998. This initiative reflects the core role of RTA in providing new and premium services to raise customers’ satisfaction and happiness through engaging them in se-lecting personalised & important numbers for their vehi-cle plates,” concluded Al Marzouqi.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched a new phase of Your Memorable Moments on Your Vehicle’s Plate’ initiative for U-Coded plates. The initiative avails the opportunity for cus-tomers to choose five-digit plates bearing this code personalized to resemble important events in their lives such as birthday, employment day, wedding day, and graduation day, among others. The available numbers relate to the period from 1967 to 2017. Customers can buy their number plates from Customers Happiness Centres all over Dubai, service providers, strategic partners, RTA web-site (www.rta.ae), or the smart app ‘Drivers & Vehicles.’ This stage fits well with the intention of adding to people’s happiness in Ramadan and the joyous Eid AL-Fitr.

this technology are assured of the highest level of security. By launching this system, RTA seeks to realize its third strategic goal ‘People Happiness’ rendering it a true manifestation of the Dubai Government Smart City initiative. RTA is striving to be the first public entity to benefit from the secure Payment Gateway of the Dubai Smart Government.” “The new service facilitates the processing of transactions and reduces the waiting time of callers. RTA has plans for adopting top-class standards & utilizing the latest technologies in service delivery. It is keen on opening new

channels of communication with customers, given that the ‘People Happiness’ is part & parcel of RTA’s strategies,” added Mahboub.Nidal Abu Latif, President of Avaya Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia-Pacific, said, “We have a solid strategic partnership with RTA that has yielded numerous modern deliverables that make life easier for people in the UAE. We both aim to offer a rich customer service experience that measures up to the digital aspirations of customers today. We are keen to work together to continue innovating and offering attractive solutions.”

Our Services

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Circular bus route as Naif Road maintenance starts

Dubai Taxi launches »Smart Tow» to assist broken down vehicles

RTA’s Public Transport Agency launched a circular bus route service as of July 8, 2017, to meet the needs of bus commuters at Naif Road due to the closure of this road for one month to carry out maintenance works starting from that date.

RTA’s Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) has launched the Smart Tow system offering roadside assistance for broken down vehicles via a smart app in all smartphones. The DTC has recently signed a contract with the Arabian Automobile Association (AAA), a leading provider of roadside solutions, to operate and upgrade the service. The system is designed to ease the delivery of roadside assistance to the public, develop a modern way that helps reduce road traffic accidents & congestions and improve the level of service through the rapid deployment of recovery service, if needed. The process is in line with the strategy of making Dubai the smartest city in the world.

Dr Yousef Mohammed Al Ali, CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation, RTA, said, “Launching the Smart Tow system provides a platform for marketing the recovery service and expediting the response to emergency accidents. It forms part & parcel of DTC relentless efforts to provide top class and smart taxi services to the public with the aim of uplifting the level of service to excellent stan-dards. “This service is operated via the ‘Smart Tow’ app through sending the coordinates of the vehicle’s location to the nearest recovery vehicle amongst recovery firms registered in the system. Such firms offer multiple services including car recovery, refuelling, tire repair, simple mechanical repairs (battery), opening locked doors and towing the vehicle to technical workshops. “The project underlines the importance attached by RTA to in-tangible assets as the accelerated delivery & achievement of objectives translates into added quality, safety and perfection. Such deliverables are integral components of RTA’s strategy for

nurturing an integrated & sustainable infrastructure of a roads network compatible with the highest global quality standards. DTC is making relentless efforts to introduce unique initiatives that meet the expectations of Dubai residents & visitors through enhanced traffic safety and improved traffic accidents in the city.Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Chairman of the Arabian Automobile Association, said, “The Dubai Taxi Corporation initiative placing vehicle towing under a digital platform is a positive step towards streamlining the traffic movement in Dubai. This app would pro-vide high-quality services to motorists in Dubai through providing towing service and roadside assistance online via the smart app ‘Smart Tow’ on smartphones. It would ease the traffic move-ment and reduce traffic congestions in main roads & highways triggered by accidents and faulty vehicles. Through this sophisti-cated technology, the motorist would not need to wait for long to get a recovery service, and can even track the movement of the recovery vehicle on its way to him or her,” added Ben Sulayem.

Mohammed Abu Bakr Al-Hashemi, Director of Planning & Business Development, RTA’s Public Transport Agency said, “The purpose of providing this service is to meet the needs

of public bus riders affected by the temporary closure of Naif Road. All bus routes serving Bus Stops of Naif Junction (2) and Burj Nahar Junction (2) would be suspended. Therefore,


A partial closure of Metro Red Line on Fri & Sat for 10 weeks Construction works of Route 2020 Project prompt the move

a temporary alternative circular bus service is required until the completion of maintenance works of Naif Road. “The Circular Bus Route will start from the Union Metro Station, pass through Naif Park, Naif Junction (1), Burj Na-har Junction (1), and Al Nakhal Stop before heading back to the Union Metro Station. Bus commuters can use tempo-rary alternative routes from the Union MS to travel to their various destinations. The temporary alternative circular route service would run at 15 minutes intervals through-out the day. All affected routes and stops would not be served during the closure of Naif Road for maintenance,” explained Al-Hashemi.

RTA’s Rail Agency is set to introduce constructional changes on the route of the Dubai Metro Red Line to move ahead with the plan for linking up with Route 2020 project. The plan envisages the extension of the Red Line to the site of World Expo that will kick off in Dubai in 2020. “The constructional changes require a partial closure of the rail track of the Metro Red Line between Jumeirah Lakes Towers Sta-tion and Ibn Battuta Station during weekends (Fridays & Saturdays only) over 10 weeks starting from 28 July up to 14 October 2017. An alternative operational plan would be in place as Metro riders would be offered free shuttle bus service between the two sta-tions,” according to Mohammed Yousef Al Mudharreb, Director of Rail Operation, RTA’s Rail Agency. “The alternative plan for the said Metro partial closure encom-passes the deployment of shuttle bus service to commute riders between JLT Metro Station and Ibn Battuta Metro Station. RTA had conducted intensive field studies, in collaboration with the con-tractor, to ensure that the alternative plan would be highly efficient in commuting riders between the two stations, given the intensive traffic movement over the weekends. According to the plan, the contractor would upgrade the automatic operation system and

add switches point to enable trains switch rail tracks and return at JLT and Ibn Battuta Metro Stations,” elaborated Al Mudharreb. “Metro commuters heading towards the UAE Exchange Station need to get off at JLT Station, take a free bus ride to Ibn Battuta Station and then continue their journey by metro in the direction of the UAE Exchange Station. Metro riders travelling in the direction of Al Rashidiya Station need to get off the metro at Ibn Battuta Station, take free bus rides to JLT Metro Station and then continue their journey on the metro in the direction of Al Rashidiya Station,” he added.“RTA is always keen to ensure the smooth functioning of pub-lic transit modes and offering of seamless transit service to the public throughout weekdays. It also seeks to ensure the smooth functionality of its electronic and smart services 24/7 and their full integration with the public transport network,” added the Director of Rail Operation, RTA Rail Agency.

“It is worth mentioning that users of affected bus stops are as much as 394 thousand riders per month (about 13 thousand riders per day). In view of the huge number of commuters using the affected routes, RTA was prompted to find an immediate solution for serving the needs of af-fected bus riders. “RTA pays considerable attention to the resilience of mass transit network in Dubai such that it can always provide convenient and smooth mobility. These are the exact objectives sought by RTA in its vision of offering Safe & Smooth Transport for All,” added the Director of Planning & Business Development, Public Transport Agency.

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Deadline for registration in Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management extended

»8009090» reaps 5 new awards The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has won 5 awards at the local & GCC lev-el, presented by INSIGHTS ME Call Centre Awards. The Awards clinched by RTA’s Call Center (8009090) are indicative of its persistent efforts to keep pace with the highest standards of service improvement, enhance the satisfaction of customers & employees, and realise RTA’s third strategic goal ‘People Happiness’.HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, expressed his delight with the five awards handed over by Yousef Al-Rida, CEO of Corporate Admin-istrative Support Services Sector, and Ahmed Mahboub, Executive Director of RTA’s Customer Service. Al Tayer noted that the awards highlighted the efforts of the RTA to maintain the highest perfor-mance standards in Call Centers in both public and private sectors. He called for fresh efforts to maintain this superb performance level.

The Board of Trustees of the Hamdan Bin Mohammad Award for Innovation in Project Man-agement (HBM AIPM), under the chairmanship of HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) cum Chairman of the Award’s Board of Trustees, has decided to extend the deadline set for regis-tration in the Award up to July 14th 2017.

Ms Laila Faridoon, Executive Director, Office of the Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors cum Member of the Board of Trustees & Secretary General of the Award, said, “The extension of the registration deadline aims to avail potential participants every chance to complete their

submission bids. About 450 bids are under submission, and the opportunity is open for submitting nominations to the Award through the website (http://www.hbmaipm.com/). “The Award aims to make Dubai a global hub for Project Man-agement Innovators & Specialists and drive innovation in this

“The Call Center has won 5 awards namely: Best Government Call Center Middle East –Value, Best Career and Skill Paths, in addition to three individual creativity awards namely: The Best Call Center Art, Best Call Center Essay, and Best Call Center Photography. Winning such awards reflects the keenness of the Call Center to avail opportunities for talented employees.” “Winning 5 of INSIGHTS ME Call Centre Awards, a reputed organ-isation in this field reflects our commitment to upgrading RTA Call Center (8009090) as it plays a crucial role in the delivery of mul-tiple services. It is recalled that the Center had won the Best Gov-ernment Call Center Award in the ‘Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart Government Program in 2016. Such achievements bear reference to the highest job standards set to deliver the tasks entrusted to the Center and the optimal way to lead it. Accordingly, we have suc-ceeded in winning these numerous awards despite the fierce com-petition and intense participations of contenders from public and private sectors in the UAE and GCC countries.”


Briefing Residency & Foreigners Affairs on governance practices

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has briefed a visiting delegation from the General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs about the best practices of corporate governance adopted by the RTA. The visit conforms to RTA’s strategy of sharing expertise & knowledge with all Government entities in Dubai.

“The visit of the Directorate of Residency signals the keenness to identify the standards of governance & audit adopted by RTA, which nurture an environment conducive to integrity, transparen-cy, justice and accountability. RTA has a rich legacy in this regard as illustrated by the numerous awards obtained. So visitors were keen to exchange views about corporate governance in a manner that serves the interests of both parties,” said Abdullah Al-Jawi, Director of Internal Audit of RTA.The meeting started with a visual presentation about the organ-isational chart of RTA, and the organisational chart of organisa-tional units overseeing governance practices. The presentation shed light on the responsibilities of governance audit such as the assessment of internal audit systems of strate-gic activities with the aim of identifying the scope of governance audit under the annual audit plan. It also covered the provision of advice to organisational units in matters related to auditing & monitoring to ensure the compliance with the applicable rules,

field. The Award, which carries a prize pool of about USD $550,000, also seeks to add a new dimension to an innovative breakthrough in the business sector of the Gulf region. The win-ners will be announced during the 4th Dubai International Proj-ect Management Forum (DIPMF),” she noted.

Award Categories“The award comprises 3 categories. The first one is the Individu-als’ Category, which has a total purse of USD $60,000 and com-prises 2 sections. The first section is Innovative Project Manager (USD $30,000). It focuses on Benefit Realization Management, Cost, Time, & Scope Management; Procurement Management, Quality Management; Risk and Issue Management; Culture & Change Management, and Stakeholder Demands Management. The second section (USD $30,000) is the Innovative PMO Man-ager. It covers cover Cost, Time, & Scope Management, Project

Integration Management, Risk and Issue Management, Portfo-lio Strategy & Governance Management; Portfolio Performance Management; Communication Management; Resource Manage-ment; and Development of Standards, Methodologies, Process-es,” added Faridoon. “The second category of the Award is the Innovative Project Team Award Project (USD $40,000). It covers 4 fields: Communication Management, Culture & Change Man-agement, Stakeholder Demands, Risk and Issue Management and Project Integration Management. The third category of the Award is designated for Innovative Idea in Companies and has a total prize money of USD $450,000. It is divided into 3 parts: the Innovative Idea Award in Project Management with a prize of USD $100,000. It covers Benefit Realization Management, Cost, Time, & Scope Management; Procurement Management, Project Integration Management, Quality Management, Risk and Issue Management, Stakeholder, Culture & Change Management.

policies and regulations. It also examined the policies & principles of corporate governance and internal monitoring as well as the overall structure of combating fraud and Harees Program relating to reporting violations. During the session, several queries and inquiries were raised en-riching the exchange of important information and views. The delegation praised RTA’s experience in internal audit & corporate governance that they believed would enhance the cooperation & integration of both parties in this field.

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Highlighting Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Italy

Sharing success stories of DAST winners

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai took part in the PMI EMEAA Con-gress recently held in Rome, Italy as part of global efforts to promote the Ham-dan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management (HBM AIPM). The winners of the inaugural edition of this Award will be unveiled during the 4th Dubai International Project Management Forum (DIPMF) in November this year. The Forum is co-organized by DEWA, Emaar Properties, PMI and DP World under the theme: ‘Making a Difference.’

objectives, categories, participation, registration and the general terms & conditions of the Award. “The HBM AIPM is a unique award with a global dimen-sion,” said Laila. “RTA’s participation in this Congress, which was held in Rome, Italy, was driven by the nature of the event as a global gathering of PM specialists & ex-perts. Thus, it offered an opportunity to highlight this icon-

RTA was represented in the Congress by Ms. Laila Fari-doon, Executive Director of the Office of RTA Direc-tor-General & Chairman cum Member of Board of Trust-ees & Secretary General of the Hamdan bin Mohammed Award for Innovation in Project Management. “In the presence of PM experts & representatives of global en-tities, a visual presentation was made to highlight the

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has held a workshop for winners of the 9th Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST), with the aim of benefiting from the ex-periences and projects that had merited them to win DAST Awards. The workshop also highlighted the most important lessons learned from sustainable transport, which has become a vital necessity in serving large communities, given the extensive develop-ments taking place in transport and infrastructure sectors to meet the sustainable de-velopment requirements in all sectors.

Nasser Hamad Bu Shehab, CEO of RTA’s Strategy and Corpo-rate Governance Sector cum Chairman of DAST Higher Orga-nizing Committee, said, “The committee had met with DAST winners from DEWA, Emirates Standards and Metrology Au-thority, Fujairah Police, AMITY University, Khalifa University and Ms Bakhita Al Ketbi, who won the Best Student Project Award category. The meeting discussed several issues underlining the winning of DAST with the aim of sharing their successful expe-riences with those interested in participating in the 10th edition

of DAST.”“By holding this workshop, we aim to exchange information, views and constructive feedback to develop valuable ideas about the best solutions & practices to improve sustainable transport in Dubai,” added Bu Shehab. He lauded the great ef-forts put by participants in the Award, including governmental and semi-governmental entities as well as private institutions from all over the UAE, who were keen to display their achieve-ments in sustainable transport.


“DAST Award is a practical manifestation of RTA’s strategy of empowering its vision of providing Safe and Smooth Transport for All to keep pace with the upswing seen in Dubai in com-mercial, economic, tourism, real estate and other vital sectors. DAST had become instrumental to involving the business com-munity as well as government, semi-governmental and private

ic award that seeks to attract the best ideas & projects at the local, regional and international levels. It falls in line with the objective of the Award to stress the importance of supporting and improving the Project Management in-dustry,” she noted. “The HBM AIPM is aspiring for a global standing whereby it can reflect the spirit of creativity and shaping a bright fu-

ture; which is synonymous of the UAE, especially Dubai, as it is focused on getting exposure to the best minds & concepts for serving and delighting communities. The Award is viewed as a motivating platform for innovation leaders and an advanced tool for inspiring the business community to deliver best-in-class PM techniques world-wide,” added Laila.

organizations in supporting RTA’s efforts to achieve sustainabil-ity in all modes of public transport means,” added Bu Shehab.Representatives of the winning entities of 9th DAST thanked RTA’s DAST team for organizing this wonderful workshop, which they considered a good opportunity to share ideas & sugges-tions, and know more about procedures & categories of DAST.

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»AJYAL» embraces secondary school and university students

DTC adds hybrid vehicles to limo fleetRTA’s Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) has beefed up its luxury limousine taxi fleet with hybrid vehicles type Lexus, Model ES300H 2017. The move comes as part of a master-plan to reduce carbon emissions by 2% as called for by the Supreme Council of Energy in Dubai. It also conforms to the green economy transition, and supports RTA’s Strategic Goal: ‘Environmental Safety and Sustainability.’

“The Dubai Taxi Corporation is making every effort to gen-erate innovative ideas and utilise the latest technologies to leverage the operational efficiency of its taxicabs, and conserve energy & environment,” said Dr Yousef Moham-med Al Ali, CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation. “In 2008, the DTC has commissioned a test run of 10 hybrid vehicles, resulting in diminishing carbon emissions by 34% and cut-ting fuel consumption by 27% per vehicle. The DTC now boasts of 385 eco-friendly hybrid vehicles.”

“The DTC’s Five-Year Plan for 2021 approved convert-ing 50%, i.e. 5,000 vehicles of its fleet into environ-ment-friendly hybrid vehicles. The DTC shall approve initiatives and plans capable of ensuring a sustainable en-vironment and reducing consumption using solar power generators in cabbies’ accommodation, not to mention the treatment of carwash water at DTC’s automated car-wash station,” concluded the CEO of the Dubai Taxi Cor-poration.


The Human Resources & Development Department at the Roads and Transport Au-thority (RTA) in Dubai has commenced registration of secondary school and university students in the summer training programme ‘AJYAL.’ This annual programme, which takes place in summertime, is part of RTA’s efforts to impart practical skills in Emirati students. This year’s edition started on 9 July and end on 31 August 2017.

“Opening the registration in AJYAL program reflects RTA’s relentless efforts to run the summer internship dedicated to Emirati students in secondary schools and universities. The aim of the programme is to foster the value of work amongst interns and fill their free time in a proper way through engag-ing them in practical assignments to their benefit in future,” said Kawther Kazim, Executive Director of Human Resourc-es and Development at the RTA. “The program, which started on 9 July and ended on 31 August this year, offers students expertise in various top-ics through posting them in various RTA sectors, agencies, and departments. It will enhance the sense of responsibility among inductees, and accustom them to punctuality, atten-dance and respect of the institutional environment. Realis-ing such objectives achieves the vision of our government

viewing the youth as a robust & potential valuable compo-nent the community,” she noted.“The program targets Emirati students at both secondary schools and universities, who are still enrolled as students. Participants will get monthly rewards to encourage them in the program. Specialists at the Department will hold an ori-entation program to give students an introduction about the RTA, the summer internship and the scholarships program of the RTA. Students will attend training courses and make field visits to key projects undertaken of late. They will also be familiarised with the use of public transport means (Fer-ry, Buses and Metro) as well as the achievements & services provided by the RTA, and efforts to promote RTA’s corporate image in the community,” concluded the Executive Director of Human Resources and Development.

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Salem Al-Moosa Ramadan Majlis hosts RTA‘s Customer CouncilRTA’s Customers Council has reviewed the improved services offered by the RTA to various community segments, be it individuals or corporate customers. To this effect, the Council held a session in the Ramadan Majlis of HE Salem Ahmed Al-Moosa. The event hosted a number of RTA’s executives from different sectors and agencies to discuss areas of common concerns.

Attendees in the session included Mohammed Obaid Al-Mulla, RTA’s Member of Board of Executive Direc-tors & Chairperson of RTA’s Customers Council and Salem Ahmed Al-Moosa, Chairman of Falcon City Group LLC, a subsidiary of Salem Ahmed Al-Moosa Enterprises. Attendees also included a host of CEOs, Directors, Engineers and officials of the RTA as well as consultants & engineers of Falcon City Group LLC. Al-Moosa opened the session by welcoming Moham-med Obaid Al-Mulla, members of Customers Coun-cil and all attendees from the RTA. He expressed his delight with this vital gathering; which he viewed as a great gesture from the RTA indicative of the solid com-munication between the RTA and various community segments. Starting his speech, Al-Mulla thanked Al-Moosa for hosting this gathering to discuss RTA transport-relat-ed services to individuals and the business community.

Such services include NOCs and infrastructure projects undertaken by engineering, construction and consul-tancy firms in the UAE, like Salem Ahmed Al-Moosa Enterprises; which boasts of long & extensive services in delivering key projects in the UAE and Dubai. “The Dubai Government has pumped more than 90 billion dirhams to improve the infrastructure compris-ing 40 billion dirhams spent on constructing a solid, extensive and diverse public transport network. Such a network comprises the metro, tram, public services in addition to marine transit modes such as the water, water taxi and Dubai Ferry,” said Al-Mulla.“The public transport share in people movement in Dubai has hit 16% in 2016, and the RTA is striving to push it further to as much as 20% by and 2020 and 30% by 2013. Achieving this objective will have a remarkable impact on the environment and the public health in Dubai. Mass transit modes in Dubai


currently serve over 1.3 m riders per day. The RTA is always seeking to use advanced technologies such as smart apps, which have become instrumental to this field. They contribute immensely to making public transport means the ideal mobility choice in the Emirate rendering transit a safe, convenient and enjoyable experience,” he added. Al-Moosa hailed the projects & initiatives delivered or currently undertaken by the RTA such as Route 2020; which he says will bring about a quantum shift in the integration of public transport network in Dubai. “This vital project does not only serve Expo 2020 but will also have a huge role in leveraging the development of areas along the Route. It will also assist the estab-lishment of new residential & commercial projects that will have a key role in driving the economic develop-ment, generating trading enterprises and reviving the business sector,” he said. “We are honored to host this Ramadan session, which is dedicated to help facilitate the exchange of ideas and recommendations designed to enhance the quality of the services provided by the RTA. We are pleased to hear the suggestions of the RTA’s Customers’ Council, which makes valuable contributions to meet custom-er satisfaction and happiness based on transparency, excellence and creativity. We are confident that such initiatives will provide an effective platform to enhance the innovative services to meet the happiness of cus-

tomers, in line with our relentless efforts to achieve happiness for the people and maintain the well-being of the community--in line with the wize guidance of our leadership in building a positive and happy soci-ety and positioning the UAE as one of the world’s top countries in achieving community happiness,” said Al Moosa. The session included two visual presentations; the first was delivered by Abdullah Bu Shehab, Deputy Direc-tor of Customers Service, and highlighted various RTA services. Hamad Al Shuhi, Deputy Director of Roads, delivered the other presentation, which focused on RTA projects currently underway. The gathering saw interactive discussions between RTA executives and consultants of Salem Ahmed Al-Moosa Enterprises. Issues discussed included the Traffic Impact Study (TIS) on the progress of RTA proj-ects currently underway and other services provided by the RTA to companies such as NOCs and related procedures. At the end of the gathering, Al Moosa expressed thanks and appreciation to H.E Mattar Al Tayer, Direc-tor General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA for his support and to the Chairper-son and Members of Customers Council, and com-mended their efforts in serving the nation and the community and bringing more satisfaction & happi-ness to them.

Umrah trip for DTC cabbies RTA’s Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) dispatched 75 cab-drivers in 3 batches to per-form Umrah during the holy month of Ramadan. The initiative is part of DTC’s objectives to maximise the satisfaction of taxi-drivers, nurture a positive working environment, and up the level of services rendered to taxi users in Dubai.

Dr Yousef Mohammed Al Ali, CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation, said, “Offering Umrah trips targeted seasoned and excel-lent-performing taxi drivers who have offence-free records over a year, especially those in receipt of multiple DTC awards during their careers. The DTC has accounted for the entire expenses of the trip including accommodation, transporta-tion and catering for six days. It has also organised educative lectures and offered tips about Umrah rituals, and granted cabbies copies of the Holy Quran, prayer beads (Misbaha)

and Zamzam water. “The DTC holds an array of programs & initiatives throughout the year, especially during Ramadan, with the aim of cementing the bonds between employees, drivers and leaders. It also runs a series of educative lectures & programs at the DTC Training & Qualification Center. It of-fers a package of rewards & incentives to employees who have achieved special targets through valuable prizes, certif-icates of appreciation and other tools that help improve the job satisfaction & happiness of employees,” added Al Ali.

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A Norwegian delegation visits RTA The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai has recently received a visit-ing delegation from the Kingdom of Norway led by HE Jens Eikaas, Norwegian Ambassador to the UAE. The delegation also included Minna Crozier, Commer-cial Advisor of The Royal Norwegian Embassy; and several representatives of the Norwegian Boat Manufacturer (Baotservies). The visit was part of joint efforts to share expertise and knowledge in boat manufacturing.

abilities & experience of the Company in the manufacturing of boats & marine transit modes along with the massive de-velopment seen by the industry. The meeting also reviewed RTA’s experience in fitting marine transit modes with electric propulsion systems and the prospects of cooperation be-tween the two parties. “These meetings are part of RTA’s efforts to enhance the cooperation with global businesses in various fields to gain experience and benefit from the introduction of latest tech-nologies. Marine transit modes feature high amongst RTA’s projects portfolio as Dubai residents, visitors and tourists fancy the picturesque & glittering Dubai Beaches and the stunning skyline at the backdrop. RTA spares no effort in im-proving marine transit modes and fitting them with advanced technologies, like electrical and solar power, rendering them environment-friendly,” added Al Ali.

Commenting on the visit, Abdulla Yousef Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency said, “The delegation of Baotservies Company delivered a visual presentation highlighting the

Honouring most frequent Taxi users

A workshop about etiquette of dealing with People of Determination

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“This time around, we were keen to make this gathering as open as possible to accommodate more public views and discuss a variety of ideas & suggestions for the bet-terment of booking & dispatch services,” said Abdullah Al Mahri, Director of Transport Activities Monitoring, RTA’s Public Transport Agency. “We are seeking to respond to the demands of taxi users and make them happier through offering them express, smooth and safe services. RTA is always keen to bring happiness to clients from all commu-nity segments, including users of the Booking & Dispatch Center services in Dubai amongst residents, visitor and

RTA’s Public Transport Agency has recently held a broad meeting during which it honoured several taxi riders who were amongst the most frequent users of the Booking & Dispatch Centre services. The Centre, which oper-ates 24/7, handles taxi-booking requests in a streamlined manner until the arrival of the cab and taking the customer to the intended destination in Dubai or other Emirates of the UAE.

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has held several training workshops for all staffs of its Customer Happiness Centers and service providers to educate them about the etiquette of dealing with the People of Determination. The move is in response to the Government’s initiative aiming at making Dubai a friendly city for the people of determination by 2020.

“We had held a series of training workshops in collabora-tion with the Licensing Agency for the staffs of customer happiness centres, service providers, and some internal sections of RTA. The workshops focused on the etiquette of dealing with people of determination with the aim of making them happier and removing any difficulties, they might experience during the processing of their transac-tions. Holding these workshops is part of RTA’s relentless efforts to keep pace with the initiative of Dubai Govern-ment aimed at rendering Dubai a friendly city to the peo-ple of determination by 2020,” said Ahmed Mahboub, Executive Director of Customers Service, RTA’s Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector.“It is our duty to respect the rights people of determina-

tion as they are privileged with special attention in our hearts. They also highly feature in the strategy of the UAE, Dubai and RTA, which always seeks to integrate them by customising its services & facilities to the needs and accessibility of this segment. RTA is keen to ease the processing & delivery of services to them at the highest humanitarian standards. It was therefore imperative to train front-end employees and partners (service provid-ers) of RTA to the delivery of such tasks in line with our third Strategic Goal: People Happiness. RTA is making every effort to educate the public about dealing with the people of determination and is running successive initia-tives to realize this noble objective for their convenience & happiness,” added Mahboub.

tourists descending on the Emirate from all corners of the globe,” continued Al Mahri.“This step is part of RTA’s third Strategic Goal (People Happiness) and is in line with the directives of the Dubai Government. Accordingly, Dubai has become one of the prominent cities of the region and the world that place a high emphasis on the happiness of residents, visitors and tourists,” he added.The contact number of the Booking & Dispatch Centre is .(04-2080808) All community members can dial this number to book taxi services around-the-clock.


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Realigning »Child Safety» Program with Ministry of Interior‘s amendments A seat for children under 4, AED 400 fine for violators


Engineer Maitha Bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traf-fic and Roads Agency, highlighted the impor-tance of these amendments, especially as regards obliging motorists to have children under 4 restrained in a safety seat when riding a motor vehicle. The law enforcement also applies to allowing children aged less than 10 years or measuring less than 145cm to sit in the front seat.“RTA is keeping pace with the amendments by enhancing the “Child Safety” program, which is implemented throughout the year in coopera-tion with the Dubai Health Authority. The pro-gram targets children & mothers in hospitals and health centres to raise their awareness about basic procedures of child safety. It underscores the importance of child safety seat as well as choosing & fixing it in the vehicle. In the next phase, the program would focus on acquainting individuals with the new amendments where the child safety seat has become mandatory, with offenders subject to AED400 fine and 4 black points,” noted Bin Adai.“The Traffic and Roads Agency had forged co-operation with Monash University Accident Re-search Center (MUARC), Australia; one of the most comprehensive accident and injury pre-vention research centres worldwide powered by scientific & academic excellence. Together with the Centre, the Traffic and Roads Agency collected details of 800 parents in the emirate of Dubai to gauge their awareness of the impor-tance of using child safety means for children under 10” added Bin Udai.“The survey data had been captured from par-

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is rejuvenating the Child Safe-ty program oriented to mothers & children, following amendments made by the Ministry of Interior to the Executive Regulation govern-ing the principles & procedures of traffic law enforcement. The revised rules oblige motorists to seat children under 4 years in a dedicated child seat while onboard.

ents in different locations in Dubai such as Bar-sha Mall, Dubai Marina Mall, Latifa Hospital, Antenatal Clinics and Health Centers of the Dubai Health Authority as well as RTA Custom-er Happiness Centers. A comprehensive data analysis would be carried out to understand par-ents’ views about using child protection means to gauge their awareness about the correct in-stallation & proper selection of safe child pro-tection means. It will also examine the under-lying reasons for the reluctance of some parents to use child safety seat. Based on findings, the research project will consider ways & means of increasing the use of child protection means in Dubai to enhance child safety onboard,” elabo-rated Bin Adai.The Traffic and Roads Agency conducted a train-ing workshop for volunteers who administer the survey where Professor Brian Field of the Monash University Accident Research Center conducting the survey, presented a lecture, as to how to conduct interviews with target groups. She also stressed the importance of differenti-ating between residents in the local community and short-term visitors of the emirate.It is noteworthy that the number of mothers reg-istered as members of the Child Safety Program rose to more than 3,000 at the end of 2016. Membership entitles them to multiple privileges including a free child safety seat. The Agency is stepping up cooperation with private companies to develop and innovate awareness campaigns & publications aimed at sensitising parents and drivers in Dubai about the importance of pro-tecting children from traffic accidents.

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Awareness to reduce risks of quad bikes

Implementing the federal law governing Driver License validity

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in cooperation with the Tourist Police, General Headquarters of Dubai Police, has carried out an extensive campaign to sen-sitise the owners of tourist camps to provide safety tools and equipment when rent-ing quad bikes. The campaign signals RTA’s keenness to protect those camps against the potential risks of using quad bikes.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai started on July 1st, 2017 the implementation of the new Executive Regulation of the Fed-eral Driving & Traffic Law as revised by the Ministerial Resolution No. (177) for 2017 (Article 84 governing the issuance & renewal of driver li-censes). RTA’s commitment to implement the Resolution is in line with its efforts to serve the public interest in this field.

Mohammed Waleed Nabhan, Director of Monitoring & Enforcement at RTA’s Licensing Agency, said, “The campaign, which had been conducted in cooperation with the Tourist Police, General Headquarters of Dubai Police, targeted 23 camps fitted with quad bike circuits. Directional leaflets had been distributed stressing the gravity of ignoring to wear bikes safety gear, and ex-plaining the security & safety stipulations of riding. The leaflets also warned against flouting the safety condi-tions at bike circuits.“Dubai boasts of many recreational camps thanks to the attractive geographical sites conducive to practis-ing quad bike riding. However, such temptations may

turn into incidents. Therefore, we have launched this campaign to warn against ignoring the proper use of quad bikes,” continued Nabhan.“The awareness campaign visited 23 recreational camps, particularly quad bike rental in places where the activity is practised throughout the year at varying degrees, according to the seasons. According to the police statistics, nine quad bike incidents were report-ed in 2016, which requires launching such campaigns periodically in coordination with the Tourist Police to ensure the safety of camps and kerb the misuse of quad bikes,” added the Director of Monitoring & En-forcement at RTA’s Licensing Agency.


Detailing the news, Ahmed Bahrozyan, CEO of RTA Licensing Agency, said, “Article (84) of the Ministeri-al Resolution (177), which implemented as of July 1st this year, sets several stipulations for issuing & renew-ing driver licenses. It sets the initial validity of Driver Licenses issued or replaced, as 2 years for citizens, GCC nationals and other nationalities aged 21 years and above. It sets the validity of renewal of driver li-censes as 10 years for citizens & GCC nationals aged 21 years and above, and five years in respect of other

nationalities of the same age group. “For those aged less than 21 years, be it citizens, GCC na-tionals or other nationalities, the initial validity of the driv-er license issued, replaced or renewed shall be one year as currently applied,” he explained. “RTA is always keen to comply with the Federal and Min-isterial Laws governing the issuance, renewal or age lim-its related to driver licenses out of its keenness to serve the public interest and realise its vision of providing Safe & Smooth Transport for All,” added Bahrozyan.

Society safety

avoid over speeding and radar tickets. The experiment would be evaluated to verify its impacts on drivers’ atti-tudes. It is expected that the procedure would significant-ly increase compliance with specified speeds and avoid potential accidents,” continued bin Adai.“The various development projects launched & imple-mented by RTA since inception have contributed effec-tively to decreasing the number of traffic accidents deaths by as much as 50%. Traffic fatalities came down from 332 in 2006 to 166 in 2015, and mortality rate went down from 21.7 deaths per 100,000 peoples in 2006 to 3.5 per 100,000 peoples in 2016. These statistics have placed Dubai among the top five cities in the world in the traffic safety,” explained bin Adai.“According to the three key elements of RTA’s traffic safe-ty plans (drivers, vehicles and roads), systematic engi-neering measures are being taken to improve the traffic safety level. Road wize, RTA has recently taken a series of engineering measures such as changing speed limits of roads witnessing elevated traffic volumes or a change in the actual speeds in a manner that warrants re-assess-ment. As excessive speed causes 80% of severe traffic accidents, associated factors were examined as well. So a study was commissioned for improving the locations witnessing speed reduction to alert drivers to be more attentive and reduce their speed to match the engineer-ing design of the road, and avoid being caught by radars,” elaborated Maitha.

Engineer Maitha bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, said: “The experiment had been carried out at a certain location of Oud Metha Street near Bu Kadrah In-terchange along the Dubai-Al Ain Street. The process in-volved coloring all lanes in an eye-catching style such that the step would help in inviting the attention of road users to the new speed limit. Asphalt coloring would be imple-mented in phases at locations subject to speed change in some other vital roads in the emirate of Dubai in a gradual timeframe. Therefore, we expect motorists to get used to it for their own safety, and avoid offences & accidents re-sulting from over speeding as per RTA’s vision of “Safe and Smooth Transport for All.”In line with its policy and findings of the Traffic Safety Strategy for zero fatalities in road accidents of the Emir-ate, RTA has examined and implemented a proposal on Oud Metha Street in the sector where the speed limit is reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h. The proposal involves coloring vehicle lanes in red, drawing triangular markings on both sides of lane dividers, displaying the speed limit on each vehicle lane, and intensifying the cautionary signs for reducing the speed on the specified road sectors.“It is stressed that this location is experimental, and the idea would then be implemented in the Sheikh Zayed Road near the 5th Interchange where speed is reduced from 120km/h to 100km/h. It would also be applied to the Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road near Lehbab where speed is reduced from 120km/h to 100km/h so that motorists can

RTA experiments coloring asphalt in Red to alert motorists to lower speedThe step aims to improve traffic safety, reduce fatal accidents The Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has started coloring asphalt in “Red”in parts of streets subject to change in speed limits, such as Oud Metha Street (near Bu Kadrah Interchange) along the extension of Dubai-Al Ain Street, where the maximum speed limit is reduced from 100 km/h to 80km/h.

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“According to the engineering specifications stated in the Traffic Control Devices Manual, the proposal had been developed for coloring asphalt in red at a distance suffi-cient for motorists to lower their speed gradually without obliging them to apply brakes suddenly. We anticipate this course of action would contribute to cutting the number of successive accidents. Similar actions taken previously had contributed to reducing the number of traffic deaths on key streets and highways witnessing the largest traffic

accidents in the Emirate. Accordingly, the number of traf-fic fatalities in the Sheikh Zayed Road had plunged from 17 in 2015 to just 10 deaths in 2016, and the number of traffic fatalities in Dubai-Al Ain Road receded from 10 in 2015 to just 8 in 2016,” explained Maitha.The CEO of RTA Traffic and Roads Agency called upon road users to observe the new road markings and adhere to the specified speed limits to ensure their safety, and re-alize RTA’s vision of “Safe and Smooth Transport for All.”


RTA carries 349 inspections on vehicles of driving institutes over 10 days

RTA releases updated Salama Mag Smart App The update includes Augmented Reality games feature

Society safety

The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has launched an update smart app of Sala-ma Magazine to facilitate and speed up the experience of browsers. The updated version is enhanced with augmented reality games, which would enable this traffic safety-ded-icated publication to access targeted children everywhere. The Salama magazine App, a freeware downloadable to any smartphone or iPad, is available in Apple and Android e-Stores, where users can enter the name of the app and download it, as easy as that.

“The Traffic & Roads Agency attaches a great attention to children and is keen to furnish them with the skills & knowl-edge required to nurture an enlightened & traffic-edu-cated generation through the beloved cartoon character Salama,” said Eng. Maitha Bin Adai, CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency, “The new update will contribute sig-nificantly to realising our vision and objectives towards ed-ucating children and students in the UAE community.”“We have a plan to raise the traffic awareness of all com-

munity members, including children, and we strive to ac-cess them through many methods and techniques using the appropriate tools. Through our ongoing studies & ques-tionnaires, we concluded that children tend to use smart devices with games content. Therefore, we have updated the smart App that we first launched in mid-2015. We had made extensive updates such as adding smart games en-hanced with augmented reality technology to bring chil-dren closer to the traffic environment and thus understand

RTA’s Licensing Agency has carried out an extensive inspection campaign tar-geting driving institutes and centers, totaling 349 swoops within a span of 10 days. A random sample of 2329 vehicles from various driving centers were in-spected to measure their compliance with the rules and standards set for the safety of vehicle bodies. These checks included tyres, lights, windshields, safe-ty belt. Inspections also aimed to ensure that safety tools were in place such as the first aid kit, reflective triangle , hammer and the fire extinguisher. Inspec-tors also verified the compliance of driving instructors with the training require-ments especially in phase (1).

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the associated rules and regulations,” added bin Adai.“The Agency’s experts worked with tech companies to make the application faster and easier, especially when browsing the monthly magazine, which is updated on a monthly basis in conjunction with the printed version.

Mohammed Nabhan, Director of the Monitoring & Enforce-ment at RTA’s Licensing Agency, said that as many as 349 inspections were carried out during the campaign, which was part of a series of inspection campaigns targeting driving in-stitutes. “The aim was to ensure compliance with laws, leg-islations and approved driver training modules . The special-ist inspection team had always been working hard to realize RTA’s vision of ‘Safe and Smooth Transport for All.“The inspections covered the Emirates Driving Institute, Belhasa Driving Center, Al Ahli Driving Center, Dubai Driv-ing Center, Galadari Motor Driving Center and Dubai Inter-national Driving Center. The inspection campaigns pave the way for developing improvement plans which will be initiat-ed and monitored in the near future,” added Nabhan. “Work is in full swing to upgrade the online link between driving institutes and RTA’s licensing systems such that au-diting can be done online. Audits can verify the commitment of trainees to taking the prescribed training lessons as per the

applicable systems. This exercise would save time and effort of the parties concerned, and accelerate the procedures of capturing the information required from training centres,” concluded the Director of the Monitoring & Enforcement at RTA’s Licensing Agency.

Experts had also upgraded the home page design of the App and introduced comprehensive changes in designs and colours in keeping with the changes in the new RTA’s corporate identity,” concluded the CEO of RTA’s Traffic and Roads Agency.


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