New Policies Proposed to Tackle Traffic Congestion in the UAE

Traffic congestion has end up an growing subject inside the UAE, mainly in excessive-density regions which includes Dubai and Sharjah. With the extensive variety of cars on the street growing at an extraordinary rate, government in the intervening time are thinking about new regulations to mitigate congestion and improve the commuting experience for residents.

Government Proposals to Manage Traffic

On Tuesday, Suhail Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, proposed that updated guidelines had been vital to deal with the surge in vehicles. The minister highlighted that car numbers have surpassed an 8% growth price—a ways above the global common of 2%—and defined this as “extraordinary.” To counteract this, he counseled revising automobile ownership regulations, introducing new modes of delivery, and enhancing roadway infrastructure.

Mustafa Aldah, founding father of MA Traffic Consulting, expressed concerns approximately the sustainability of this growth fee, mentioning that it’ll be difficult to put in force a solution that efficaciously balances traffic float among Dubai and Sharjah, in particular at some point of top hours.

Restricting Access to Vehicles

Aldah welcomed the ministry’s proposals as a positive step however recounted that limiting access to automobiles could be a project. “Motorized motors are very accessible within the UAE, so maybe proscribing that a little bit will reduce congestion on the roads—that’s one principle,” he stated. He added that expanding public delivery and growing its capacity would additionally be important measures.

One international model frequently cited for managing traffic congestion is Singapore’s Certificate of Entitlement (COE) machine, which turned into added in 1990. Under this device, residents must acquire a COE license thru a bidding technique to own a vehicle for up to 10 years. Aldah described this as a “contentious issue,” explaining that at the same time as Singaporeans had been accustomed to such rules for a long time, UAE citizens are notably new to automobile ownership restrictions. “I suspect the government will need to move easy first of all,” he cited.

Encouraging Carpooling and Public Transport

Another attitude turned into offered by using Thomas Edelmann, Founder and Managing Director of RoadSafetyUAE, who puzzled whether or not strict car possession guidelines could be appropriate for the UAE. Instead, he recommended that decreasing the wide variety of cars on the road at some point of peak hours might be a greater powerful method.

Edelmann proposed a policy requiring no less than two passengers according to vehicle all through rush hour on foremost roads. “Dedicated carpooling lanes for automobiles with extra than two people on board could be brought as an incentive to growth the variety of occupants consistent with automobile,” he said. This method has been efficiently carried out in other elements of the arena to lessen congestion and encourage shared journey.

Additionally, Edelmann emphasized the want to put money into public mass transportation aggressively. He recommended that the use of college buses need to be made obligatory, in preference to mother and father the use of private vehicles for school runs, which contributes extensively to traffic congestion.

The UAE’s Car-Dependent Culture

A survey carried out with the useful resource of RoadSafetyUAE in 2020 located that 83% of UAE citizens rely on automobiles, at the identical time as only 13% use public transportation. Furthermore, 64% of respondents stated that they use their automobiles for commuting to and from work. Edelmann recommended that people ought to discover ways to lessen the huge style of vehicle journeys they take, which includes for paintings capabilities, to assist alleviate congestion.

Looking Ahead

As the UAE maintains to grow, site visitors congestion is expected to stay a key challenge. While no single answer can clear up the difficulty overnight, a mixture of measures—along with carpooling incentives, elevated public shipping, and capacity regulations on car possession—should pave the manner for a extra sustainable and green transportation system.

Authorities are currently assessing the feasibility of numerous proposals, and it stays to be visible how these modifications will form the future of commuting inside the UAE. For now, citizens retain to navigate congested roads, hoping for long-time period solutions on the way to ease their every day travels.