RTA Traffic Management Team gears up for New Year’s eve
Community members urged to use public transit means
Roads & Transport Authority – Abdul Fattah Haidrah & Nashwan Atta’ee:
The Team responsible for Traffic Management and Handling of Operational Plans During Official & Annual Events at the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has put the final touches on a comprehensive plan for managing vehicular traffic on the eve of the New Year; which is poised to witness huge traffic movement, particularly in the vicinity of Burj Khalifa.
Engineer Maitha bin Udai, CEO of RTA Traffic & Roads Agency cum Head of Traffic Management & Handling of Operational Plans During Official & Annual Events Team at the RTA, revealed that the Team has prepared all procedures required to ease the traffic movement in the neighborhood of Burj Khalifa during the New Year celebrations. “The traffic plan in place entails the provision of additional parking spaces, installation of directional signage, 24-hour operation of the metro, deployment of additional & feeder bus service, provision of bus-dedicated lanes, and addressing the needs of taxicabs,” she said.
“We have got in place a fully-fledged and approved plan for managing the traffic on the eve of the New Year, and the team attending to this plan has benefited from the experience of last year. Meanwhile, the RTA is currently in the final stages of constructing internal roads network at the Business Bay Crossing which will offer the public several options to access Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Khail Road and accordingly avoid the anticipated congestion at the Financial Center Road. The team will also cater to providing greater exit corridors for vehicles once events are concluded.
“The team has managed to provide 10,000 additional parking slots near the events venue including 2,000 parking spaces at the Trade Center, and 8,000 parking spaces at Meydan, while deploying shuttle bus service to lift the public to the events venue. 15 members of the Team will be deployed in the surroundings of Burj Khalifa to monitor the implementation of the Plan and carry out necessary modifications in cooperation with the Dubai Police and Emaar Company. The metro will be operating round-the- clock and the number of passengers is expected to hit 132 thousand.
“The traffic signals control rooms will monitor the traffic movement in the area and the Team will direct the traffic as dictated by the density of vehicular traffic at the intersections and streets in the vicinity of Burj Khalifa. The Virtual Messaging Signs will also help direct road users to suitable alternative roads,” added engineer Maitha.
She called on the public to use the metro and public buses rather than private vehicles, particularly during events held in Dubai such as the Eve of the New Year’s festivities. “The plan set by the Team accounts for higher ridership of public transit means and has done what it takes to accommodate additional numbers of potential commuters,” said Maitha in a concluding remark.
For his part, Ahmed Mohammed Al Hammadi, Director of Buses, Public Transport Agency and Head of the Team Responsible for Dealing with Public Transport Systems, Metro and Taxis during Official and Annual Events, said that fare gates of four metro stations will be open for the public without requiring the user to swipe the Nol card on the ticket validation machine provided that the Nol card will be swiped and fares will be deducted on exiting the final station for each user in order to ease off entering the stations near the celebration venue. “So, the Nol card will have to be swiped on fare gates at the time of exiting the stations, which are located within the same faring zone, depending on entering them. Consequently, the fares deduction will be identical to the faring schedule. These stations are: Business Bay, Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall, Financial Center and Emirates Towers,” he explained.
“Three different types of public bus service will be run namely; the metro feeder service, night service and the Park and Ride service to shuttle passengers from the parking areas. Metro feeder buses operate on the following routes: From Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall metro station to Dubai Mall, and the service will run at 3 minutes headway during peak times using standard buses. From the Business Bay metro station to Burj Khalifa Dubai Mall metro stations where passengers can use the Metro Sky Link to access the Dubai Mall at 5 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses as well. From the World Trade Center metro station to Burj Khalifa Dubai Metro Station at 5-minutes headway during peak time also using standard buses.
“The Park and Ride service for shuttling visitors from car parks will run on the following routes: from the parking lot of Meydan to bus parking area at the back of the Dubai Mall at 20 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses, from the World Trade Center parking lot to bus parking area at the back of the Dubai Mall at 10 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses, and from the parking space of Zaabeel Park to the bus parking area at the back of the Dubai Mall at 10 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses,” elaborated Al Hammadi.
About the night bus service, Al Hammadi said: “This service covers the following routes: From the parking space at the back of the Dubai Mall to Ibn Battuta metro station at 10 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses, from the parking space at the back of the Dubai Mall to Rashidiya metro station at 10 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses, and from the parking space at the back of the Dubai Mall to Burjuman metro station / Ghubaiba metro station at 10 minutes headway during peak time using standard buses.
