Dubai Invest In Tram System
It goes to show you how far Dubai has come in such a short space of time that we already think of it as a modern 21st century city - maybe even the first supercity of the new millennium. Of course such is the sped of development that most of the time Dubai is playing catch-up whereas most great cities of the world have evolved and matured into the cities that they are now. London, Paris, New York, Moscow, Berlin may not possess the purchasing power of Dubai but make up for it in so many other ways.
Transport is one area that shows Dubai for what it rally is. Dubai does not boast a tube system that of London, or the equivalent of a New York subway or the Metro of Paris... it relies on good old fashioned road traffic. According to the latest reports: "The city has become the most congested city in the Middle East. Professionals working in Dubai spend an average of 1 hour and 45 minutes commuting to and from work. The government has invested heavily in the Dubai's road infrastructure, although this has not kept pace with the increase in the number of vehicles, leading to growing problems of congestion."
Such is the reliance on the car that latest figures show traffic congestion, the single biggest concern among Dubai's 1.44 million residents, inflicts losses of Dh4.6 billion or 3.15% of the emirate's Dh146 billion GDP a year. The city has a car ownership rate of 541 cars per 1,000 population. This figure exceeds that of cities like New York City [444 cars per 1,000 population], London [345 cars per 1,000 population] and Singapore [111 cars per 1,000 population]. If this trend continues, then by 2020, there will be 5.3 million registered cars in Dubai.
A metro is already planned for Dubai and there is more good news on the horizon for the beleaguered Dubai visitor. Plans have been unveiled for an advanced tram system as part of the Dh73 billion Downtown Burj project. The 4.6km, Dh500 million tram will be the first of its kind in Dubai.
Mohammed Ali Alabbar, the chairman of Emaar Properties, said: "Transportation is universally regarded as the top mega-city infrastructure challenge, which also has the biggest impact on any project’s competitiveness. Congestion costs have a critical bearing on any project’s overall growth as well as the environment."
Dubai may have trouble making up lost ground to the likes of London et al, but it seems it has no trouble in keeping pace!
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