Dubai has a rapidly growing population and severe traffic congestion problems. The population has grown from 183,000 inhabitants in 1970 to roughly 1.1 million today, and the increase is forecast to continue at an annual rate of 6.4 per cent to reach some 3 million inhabitants by 2017.
Both driving and walking around the city, in the few places where walking is at all possible, is increasingly hazardous. Statistics show that fatal crashes are on the rise throughout Dubai. The monthly average figure (from Gulf News Traffic Watch, Dubai) increased from 17 deaths a month in 2005 to 19 deaths a month in 2006 - and that's in a city of 1.5 million. These aren't the major bus crashes that heppen in India and Asia; these are accidents caused by too-fast, unregulated drivers in expensive fast cars who scoff at the derisory fines levied for dangerous speeding and overtaking. More than 85,000 traffic accidents occurred in Sharjah in 2004,which is an incredibly high number for the size of the emirate, say car insurers.
Even away from the frustrating freeways with their endless loops and U-turns (you can often see where your destination but can't reach it on foot or by wheels without a lengthy detour and the inevitable U-turn), what I came to call the Dubai Dodgems prevails. Simply walking across a seemingly empty car park in the older downtown areas can suddenly turn into an inelegant scamper out of the way of a car making a beeline for you. Pedestrians are very much second class citizens - and why not, many say, in a city that steams and sweats in a humid 45 degree-plus fug for several months each summer, making any outdoor activity, including walking even a block or two, impossible for all.
U-turns plague city roads
Cars lines the highway's access lanes
So it's not surprising that roads and, at long last, air-conditioned public transport are high on the city's to-do agenda. Dubai Municipality (DM)’s annual budget exceeds Dh1.28 billion (US$350 million), with approximately 90 per cent allocated to infrastructure development, according to figures published by UAE Interact. The emirate plans to invest over Dh22 billion (US$6 billion) in infrastructure-related projects in the medium term: Dh16.5 billion (US$4.5 billion) is earmarked for the light rail transit (LRT) development; around Dh1.83 billion (US$500 million) will be spent on roads and bridges, Dh1.1 billion (US$300 million) on drainage and irrigation and Dh2.56 billion (US$700 million) on general projects. There's a reasonable bs service running north-south along teh main roads, but in the ehat of summer few people brave the buses unless thay have to. But, with the planned introduction of new air-conditioned bus shelters, slated to be ready before next summer, this may change. The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) also plans to build air-conditioned luxury bus terminals to replace the existing bus stations in Dubai. Abdul Aziz Malek, Director of the Public Transport Department at RTA, said all nine bus stations in Bur Dubai and Deira would have multi-storey air-conditioned bus terminals. The terminals will have comfortable seating in the waiting area, restaurants, cafeterias and shopping area. A parking area will also be provided. The new terminals will cater to the increasing demand for bus services. They will serve both intra-city and inter-emirate bus services.
Dubai’s road network is under continuous expansion with over 20 major new projects under construction or recently completed, including a 1.5-kilometre tunnel under the airport and a new 12-lane bridge across Dubai Creek. Work on the Dh388 million bridge project began in February 2005. This third bridge, the Ras Al Khor bridge, is intended to take the pressure off the two current bridges across Dubai Creek; Al Garhoud Bridge, Maktoum Bridge, supported by the Shindagha Tunnel.
A fifth lane will be added on both sides of the city’s main conduit, Sheikh Zayed Road, and a new network of roads and two interchanges, being built at a total cost of Dh611 million, will provide access to The Palm, Jumeirah, and adjacent new developments in the south. As of May 2006, a 'floating bridge' will be constructed over Dubai Creek to ease traffic congestion on Al Maktoum Bridge. A permanent bridge will replace the floating structure once the RTA completes the design for the former. This will be the fourth bridge over Dubai Creek after the Al Maktoum, Al Garhoud and Ras Al Khor bridges.
The Metro network, says DM (the first evidence of construction could be seen as of April 2006), will be fully integrated within an overall network operated by the Dubai Municipality Public Transport Department. Bus routes and stops will be organised around the backbone provided by the rail system. Taxi stations and park-and-ride facilities will be included in key Metro stations.
Dubai's planned Metro system
The UAE is also considering building a railway network covering major cities in the emirates of the country as part of a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)-wide rail network currently under study, Government officials have recently stated. The six-nation block of GCC countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait) is holding discussions regarding plans to more closely integrate their economies by 2010.
The railway is expected to be more than 700 km long and link UAE emirates Abu Dhabi with Dubai, Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah in the east and with Ruwais and Ghowaifat in the west.
‘We are confident that the Emirates railways can be transformed into a major freight transportation system throughout the region,’ said General Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, speaking to Gulf News in November 2005.
Plans for the expansion of Dubai International Airport and a new facility at Jebel Ali Airport City (JAAC) are also underway. The combined passenger handling capacity of Dubai's two airports – Dubai International and Jebel Ali – is projected to exceed 190 million passengers per year by 2010. JAAC will also be home to the Dubai Logistics City (DLC), which is being designed to handle more than 12 million tonnes of air cargo annually through 16 air cargo terminals and which will begin operating in 2007.
Dubai Metro
Dubai’s rapid growth is overtaking its infrastructural capacity, according to Hussain Nasser Lootah, assistant director general of building and planning for Dubai Municipality. The emirate’s population has grown at an average annual rate of 6.4 per cent and the number of cars on the road by 10 per cent each year, as opposed to an international average of 2 to 3 per cent.
A new orgainisation called Dubai Metro & Public Transport Sector will take care of the ambitious Metro project. A General Projects Sector to handle road infrastructure has also been set up.
The much-needed Dubai Metro has been planned as one of the most advanced urban rail systems in the world. Investment costs for the full system have been assessed at a grand total of about AE$14.3 billion, including civil works, stations, system fixed equipment, trains, engineering and financing.
The first stage of the Preliminary Engineering Study was completed in late-2004, concluding that two lines, total distance 70km (43.5 miles), are needed.
The plans so far
The 50km (31-mile) Red Line, with 35 stations, will run from Salahuddin Road (close to Al Ghurair Centre) to the American University of Dubai through Burjuman and Sheikh Zayed Rd, and will be progressively extended to Jebel Ali Port in the south and the intersection of Al Nahda and Damascus roads through Al Qiyadah intersection in the north.
The 20km (12.4-mile) Green Line, with 22 stations, runs from Al Ittihad Square to Rashidiya bus station through Deira City Centre and Dubai Airport Terminals 1 and 3. It will be progressively extended to serve the Deira and Bur Dubai central areas and Souks up to Burjuman and Wafi shopping centres. Two interchange stations will be built at Al Ittihad Square and Burjuman.
The two lines will total nearly 70 km, with 35 stations along the 50-km long Red Line, and 22 along the 20-km long Green Line. The two transfer stations at Al Ittihad Square and Burjuman are common to both lines. A possible extension of the Green Line from Wafi to the Festival City development is under study.
Both lines will run underground in the city centre, and on an elevated viaduct everywhere else. The viaduct design and aesthetics is being developed specifically to actually enhance the urban architecture along its corridor. In no location will the tracks cross the public highwayIn total, the Metro System will include 55 stations, 18 km of tunnels, 51 km of viaduct, one major train depot and maintenance facilities site and several auxiliary stabling facilities. The total fleet size will be slightly in excess of 100 trains.
The opening date for the first section is around 2009, with completion of the whole system three years later. A key objective of the engineering studies is to minimise the impact on road traffic and on city life in general during the works. The underground works will be carried out without affecting buildings, and authorities have stated that residents will not be disturbed by excavation work.
Once in full operation, the Dubai Metro is projected to carry approximately 1.2 million passengers on an average day, and 355 million passengers per year.
The operating cost should be approximately AE$570 million per year, including staff, maintenance and power consumption. This cost is planned to be easily met through fare box revenue and additional revenues derived from advertisement space, joint development or other sources.
The Metro is expected to be partially operational by 2009 and fully operational by 2012. The construction contract for the project was given to Dubai Rapid Link (DURL) a consortium lead by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Also involved are two other Japanese corporations, Obayashi and Kajima, and a Turkish company, Yapi Merkezi.
Several monorail projects have been mooted to help feed the Metro system, connecting various new city developments such as Dubailand and Palm Jumeriah to the main track. Japanese contractors Marubeni, Hitachi and Obayashi have reportedly taken a US $390 million (AED1.4 billion) contract to build a monorail on the Palm Jumeirah. The 5.4 km monorail will be used by residents and visitors to the offshore island. Nakheel is also looking at the possibility of building a light rail system to service its planned Dubai Waterfront development.
Dubai is likely to get at least seven monorails in addition to the Dubai Light Rail project, with the development of new master-planned neighbourhoods, developers said. Three of them one on The Palm Jumeirah, a second in Dubai International Financial Centre and the third in the City of Arabia at Dubailand, have been confirmed. Four others are being studied.
The other four are likely to be built in Dubai Waterfront, the Burj Dubai complex, The Palm Deira and Dubai Festival City.
'We are currently studying the possibility of a light rail system to shuttle visitors among various destinations within the Festival City,' said Marwan Shehadeh, managing director of Al Futtaim Capital. 'This could be linked to the Dubai Metro so that people do not have to use cars to visit our attractions,' he said.
Dubai Festival City is an upscale mixed-use development in 1,600 acres housing at least five hotels, hundreds of apartments and townhouses, a shopping arcade, schools, hospitals, office towers, a business park, large retail facilities, public places, a golf course and large landscaped areas.
Emaar Properties' Burj Dubai complex, which is expected to house 30,000 families and will be visited by at least 30 million people a year, will require a sound transport system.
Nakheel is working on a multi-mode transport mechanism for approximately one million residents at Dubai Waterfront to effectively move people and a number of traffic solutions are being studied. 'We are currently studying the traffic impact for one million residents and what sort of transportation solutions will be required to move such a huge number of residents in addition to visitors,' Robert Lee, Nakheel's development director, has said.
Take to the skies: new airports
Dubai is also investing heavily in developing the reach of its airline, Emirates. The idea is to develop Dubai's air transportation ability so that passengers from any city can fly direct to Dubai. The airline has placed an order of 45 of Airbus's A-380 'superjumbo' doubledecker aircraft, the largest of which has a capacity of 641 passengers. The A380 aircraft have already been charted to fly from October 2006 onwards. In addition, Emirates has placed an order of 42 of the new Boeing 777 aircraft in November 2005.
Jebel Ali AirportThe tendering process for the multi-billion-dollar Jebel Ali Airport City (JAAC) project has begun and the infrastructure and facilities construction will start by the second quarter of 2006, according to Government sources reported in the regional press.
The project is claimed to be the world’s first integrated logistics and multi-modal transport platform.
The $544 million first phase of the 140 sq km Airport City includes the Dubai Logistics City (DLC) and one runway. Work on the dedicated runway, the first of the six the airport will eventually feature, is progressing and will be completed by 2007 enabling DLC to operate as a freighter airport capable of handling the new generation superjumbos.
‘Everything is on schedule and we will begin infrastructure and facilities construction early in 2006,’ said Michael Proffitt, DLC’s CEO.
Spread over 25 sq km, the DLC – designed to eventually handle more than 12 million tonnes of air cargo annually through 16 air cargo terminals – will begin operating in 2007. The project is aimed at catering to the logistics requirements of the greater Middle East up to 2050.
The Jebel Ali Airport, when it goes full swing, will have the capacity to handle 120 million passengers and 12 million tonnes of cargo annually.
The combined passenger handling capacity of Dubai's two airports – Dubai International and Jebel Ali – is projected to exceed 190 million passengers per year by 2010.
This figure includes 70 million passengers passing through Dubai International Airport and 120 million through Jebel Ali Airport.
Global companies are showing an increased interest in this logistics super-hub. DLC, which has received initial commitment for 1.4 million sq m of area, is holding talks with several global players who have shown interest to set up bases in Dubai.
The airport will be the combined size of London’s Heathrow and Chicago's O’Hare airports upon completion, it is planned.
‘No airport has ever been built to this scale – or been served with infrastructure of this magnitutde and sophistication. It will accommodate every aircraft type yet conceived,’ said Khalifa Al Zaffin, director engineering and Projects, Department of Civil Aviation, Government of Dubai, to the Gulf News in December 2005. The airport, which is 40 km from Dubai International Airport (DIA), is a long-term visionary project, designed to serve the emirate’s passenger and cargo air transportation needs until 2050.
