PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE MENA REGION

 

UITP’s 59th World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition will be held from 10 to 14 April 2011 in Dubai, a city that offers extensive multimodal public transport and is recognised for its forward-looking and ambitious mobility policy, based on extensive city benchmarking.
Dubai has been experiencing a rapid economic and demographic development for ten years. Population is expected to increase from 1.2 million inhabitants in 2005 to 5.15 million in 2020. As a result, traffic is expected to increase fourfold over the period.
To meet this challenge, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has developed a comprehensive strategic plan for 2020: ‘Safe and smooth transport for all’. Originally conceived as a “car city”, Dubai recognised the critical need for more sustainable mobility and is now developing public transport as its backbone:

• Construction of a metro network with a total length of 318 km
• Construction of a tram network with a total length of 270 km
• Expansion and modernization of the bus network and services (90 new routes covering 2500 km and 2000 vehicles)
• Defining new water transport routes and increasing the network capacity (5 new routes equipped with 57 water buses and taxis)
• Development and modernisation of the taxi fleet

This strategic plan was tagged at more than US$2O Billion of which nearly half is earmarked for public transport.
At the time of the UITP Congress, two driverless metro lines will be in operation. The Sufouh Tram will be ready and about to open (the first tram network equipped with platform screen doors and air-conditioned stations), and most of the investments planned for the marine, bus and taxi services will be implemented.
Dubai has ambitious modal shift targets for public transport: from 6% in 2005 to 30% in 2020. The outlook for Dubai makes it the ideal host city for the 59th World Congress, probably as one of the first cities to achieve the UITP ambitions of doubling market shares.

 

On-going and planned investments

Algeria
• Algiers metro (9 km, 10 stations): €900 Million (Operation in 2009)
• Extension of Algiers’ metro (total : 5.7 km and a multimodal station): €360 Million (Source: Entreprise du Métro d’Alger)
• Tramways of Oran (18 km, 32 stations) and Constantine (8 km, 11 stations): €660 Million (Source: Alstom) by 2011

Bahrain
• Monorail (23 km by 2011, 83 km by 2030): US$ 1 Billion (Source: Scomi)

Egypt
• Cairo metro line 3: €884 Million by 2022 (Source: Egyptian National Railways)
• Alexandria: Improvement of the transport infrastructure: €358 Million by 2011

Iran (Source: Iranian Union of Urban Railway Companies).
By 2030:
• 388 km of urban and suburban rail lines in and around 7 cities
• 181 rail stations
• US$ 20 Billion investment in rail systems (approved budget)

Morocco (Source: Ministry of Interior)
• Tramway of Rabat-Salé: 2 lines, 19.5 km, €320 Million by 2010
• Tramway of Casablanca: 1 line, 28 km, €575 Million by 2012
• Casablanca’s urban rail network by 2025: 4 tramway lines (76 km), 1 metro line (21 km, 20 stations),
1 suburban line (60 km) with an estimated total investment of €4 Billion

Jordan
• Amman-Zarqa light rail line (26 km, 12 stops): US$ 332 Million by 2011 (Source: Railway Gazette)
• Amman Bus Rapid Transport feasibility and design study ongoing (Source: Greater Amman Municipality)

Kuwait (Source: Kuwait Overland Transport Union, Ministry of Public Works)
• 165 km metro network (4 lines): US$ 11.3 Billion by 2015 presently at design stage

Qatar
• Qatar rail network including Doha metro system: US$3.0 Billion (Source: GulfBID) presently at design stage

Saudi Arabia
• Arriyadh light rail (40 km, 2 lines, 40 stations): US$3.0 Billion (Source: Arriyadh Development Authority) presently at design stage
• Mecca light rail (Al Mashaheer): US$2.8 Billion (Source: Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs) presently at bidding stage

Syria
• Damascus metro (16,5 km) by 2016 presently at design stage (Source: Damascus Government)

Tunisia (Sources: RFR and STT)
• Suburban rail network (4 lines, 81 km): €1.7 Billion by 2021
• Tunis bus network: €120 Million by 2011
• Tunis light rail network: €228 Million by 2011

United Arab Emirates
    Abu Dhabi (Source: Department of Transport)
      • 1000 more buses by 2015
      • Plans by 2030: 131 km of metro and 340 km of tramways

   Dubai (Source: RTA)
     By 2020:
     • 318 km of Metro Lines (4 lines of which 2 lines to open in 2009-2010): US$6.3 Billion
     • 268 km of Tram Lines (7 Lines): US$2.5 Billion
     • 90 new Bus routes covering 2500km and equipped with 2000 buses: US$600 Million
     • 5 new water ways covering 210km and equipped with 57 water taxis/buses: US$ 500 Million