According to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), Dubai’s economy
was set back by Dh2.9 billion in terms of loss in working hours, time
and fuel in 2013. A simple division of the annual loss with the total
length of roads in Dubai, which is 3,760.63 centreline kilometres, shows
a loss of Dh771,147.388 per kilometre.
With 1.39 million vehicles registered in Dubai, the traffic cost per vehicle per year amounts to Dh2,086.
However, the scenario would have been much worse if RTA had not
developed the city’s infrastructure over the last nine years, spending
up to Dh60 billion in building roads, establishing a Metro network and
expanding other modes of public transport.
Without the road and public transport projects implemented by RTA, the loss for the year 2013 alone would be Dh16.6 billion.
In reality, the estimated cost of time and fuel lost in congestion
from 2006 to 2013 was around Dh27.9 billion, owing to improved
infrastructure.
According to RTA’s calculations, without the road and public
transport projects implemented by RTA, the sum of these losses within
the same period would be around Dh100.4 billion.
“What this means is that the RTA implemented road and public
transport projects which saved around Dh72.53 billion. The approximate
value of Dubai’s transportation assets is around Dh73 billion while the
total capital expenditure made by RTA on road and public transport
infrastructure between 2006 and 2013 was around Dh60 billion. So, the
value of savings in time and fuel approximately balances the whole value
of Dubai transportation assets’ value and is equivalent to around 120
per cent of the RTA’s total capital transportation expenditure made
between 2006 and 2013,” said Nasser Abu Shehab, RTA’s Director of
Strategic Transport Planning, speaking exclusively to Gulf News.
This shows that though there are major losses to the economy due to
congestion, significant investments in roads and transport
infrastructure have managed to offset the effects of congestion to a
great extent.
In fact, RTA figures show that there have been benefits of
decongestion to the community as well as the wider economy, which may
not necessarily be in direct revenues.
“International studies have shown that the ratio of total benefits
[direct and indirect] to costs of transportation infrastructure and
services can be as high as six to one. This indicates that every dirham
spent on transportation infrastructure and services can yield up to six
dirhams in the form of direct and indirect benefits,” said Abu Shehab.
Referring to international urban transportation trends he added: “The
current international trend is to optimise the efficiency of existing
transportation infrastructure and services with high emphasis on
developing safe and environmentally sustainable transportation systems
which basically depend on mass transit options rather than private cars
to provide the mobility requirements of cities and communities. For
example, the UITP (International Association for Public Transport)
vision is to double the public transport trips’ share by 2020.”
As a way forward, he emphasised, RTA will continue its efforts in the
development of transportation infrastructure and services in future and
will be spending in the range of Dh5 to Dh7 billion annually within the
next few years for this purpose.
Post a Comment