What can be done to solve UAE traffic congestion?

Range of measures could prove effective, with analysts favouring 'carrot and stick' approach to motorists

A range of measures have been introduced to tackle traffic congestion in the UAE. Stephen Lock / The National

A new survey has confirmed what many motorists in the UAE know all too well – traffic congestion is a major headache for anyone travelling by road.

The research, based on canvassing 1,021 people in the country, found 86 per cent of motorists “typically experience traffic congestion”.

Moreover, the problem may be intensifying, because four fifths of respondents in the RoadSafety UAE and Al Wathba Insurance study said they have noticed heavier traffic congestion year-on-year.

Sharjah road closures in place for two months due to Etihad Rail work

Read More

It comes amid a population surge in the Emirates, with Abu Dhabi now being home to 4 million people and Dubai closing in on the landmark figure.

Motorists cited several factors as causing the traffic jams, including too many vehicles on the roads, offices and schools all starting at about the same time, heavy dependence on private cars and poor driving that causes accidents.

Respondents also gave their views on what could solve the traffic woes, with the most popular ideas being encouraging working from home, improving metro and train services, expanding the road network and improving bus services.

Encouraging people to leave their car at home and take public transport is not easy, but a “carrot and stick” approach has been shown to work elsewhere.

“The only way people will actually leave their cars is if you penalise them – you have congestion charging, or regulated parking, or charge for parking,” said Marcus Enoch, professor in transport strategy at Loughborough University in the UK and author of Roads not yet travelled: Transport futures for 2050.

“You need a stick before most people will shift from using their car. Applying sticks – charges, taxes – is unpopular and quite challenging politically," Prof Enoch said.

“Typically at the same time as trying to restrict car use, most places tend to give carrots as well. Definitely improving public transport is the carrot. The argument is you cannot just penalise people, you have to give them an alternative to get where they need to go to.”

New methods

Dubai introduced its road toll system, Salik, almost exactly 18 years ago, and the system has since been extended and modified, notably through this year's introduction of dynamic pricing, with levies increasing at peak times.

Dynamic pricing has proved highly effective at managing traffic in other parts of the world, such as Singapore, where the Electronic Road Pricing scheme imposes, the authorities say, “toll charges … according to time and congestion levels”.

Abu Dhabi’s Darb road toll system, which was introduced four and a half years ago, charges at peak hours in the morning and early evening. Many other measures could lessen the UAE’s traffic woes.

Surveys last year by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and the Dubai Government Human Resources Department found flexible working hours and more working from home could cut peak-hour traffic by as much as 30 per cent.

Travelling by air rather than on land may also help. The UAE is mapping air corridors for flying taxis and cargo drones, and one company, Joby Aviation, has been selected to supply and operate air taxis from Dubai International Airport to places such as Palm Jumeirah.

Road improvements can deal with bottlenecks. Last month the RTA announced 40 sites in Dubai would benefit from such schemes, many to improve access or connectivity.

However, while it may seem the obvious solution, simply building more roads – a favourite solution in the recent survey – typically does not reduce traffic congestion in the long-term, but instead provides only temporary relief. When more roads are built, the amount of traffic grows, known as induced demand.

Urban problems

“Continuously building or expanding the roads is not the answer,” said Dr Apostolos Kyriazis, associate professor of architecture at Abu Dhabi University, who researches urban planning. "Road engineers know that. The more roads you build, the more traffic you will get."

Dr Kyriazis said there have been numerous positive measures to reduce dependence on road vehicles in the UAE, such as the building in Abu Dhabi of a network of bicycle tracks. He would like to see such efforts increased so that cycling becomes “a lifestyle”.

He supports wider measures to promote “soft mobility”, such as walking and cycling. “You need to protect people from the heat, so you need plenty of shading. You need bicycle tracks, safe passageway through highways, which is not the case in Abu Dhabi,” he said.

Public transport can connect points within a city but this needs to be combined with ways of enabling people to travel to their final destination. He praised efforts in Dubai and Doha with regard to this.

“The metro lines are getting extended big time in order to cover areas not covered before,” he said. “They’re [also] trying to cover what we know as the last mile' from your metro station.”

A year ago, Dubai authorities announced that the number of Dubai Metro stations would increase from 55 (with 11 tram stops) to 96 by 2030, with the number rising to 140 a decade after that.

A central aim is to transform Dubai into a 20-minute city, meaning within that timeframe someone can meet their daily travel needs without using a car.

Global issues

Many cities around the world are seen as examples where good quality public transport has made life easier for residents.

Prof Enoch cited the bus rapid transit system in Curitba in Brazil. With distinctive tube-like stations, it has been credited in reports as having “sparked a transport revolution”.

“They built a busway system and then they built the city around the busway system,” he said. The bus routes are like the spokes of a wheel radiating out from the city, Prof Enoch said, and development is concentrated near them.

“It’s quite clever how they link the land use to the available transport capacity" he said. "When you look at the map or a photo from above, you see high buildings and that’s where the bus routes are."

City development can reduce the need for cars, with high-density development more suited than low-density areas to public transport systems, for example.

“An effective response to congestion is not to expand road infrastructure, but to reduce car dependency,” said Dr Alexandra Gomes, a research fellow at the London School of Economics who has analysed transport systems in cities including Abu Dhabi and Kuwait City.

“This can be achieved by creating mixed-use developments and ensuring the proximity of shops and services that are accessible by walking and cycling, as well as by increasing urban densities that support the development of mass transit systems competitive with car travel times.”