The RTA is looking to cut response times from rapid response vehicles attending accidents in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
The RTA is looking to cut response times from rapid response vehicles attending accidents in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
The RTA is looking to cut response times from rapid response vehicles attending accidents in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National
The RTA is looking to cut response times from rapid response vehicles attending accidents in Dubai. Chris Whiteoak / The National

UAE

Transport

Dubai’s RTA expands project to speed up response time to road accidents

Four new main road corridors to be established by end of year

Tom Evans

March 17, 2024

  • English
  • Arabic

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority has announced a project to examine the speed at which emergency vehicles reach accident sites, aiming for a response time of 10 minutes and a clearance time of 15 minutes.

Named the Traffic Incident Management Unit, it also aims to minimise secondary accidents, enhance traffic flow and speed up road clearance.

By the end of 2024, four additional main road corridors will be integrated into the project, which will increase the coverage from 13 to 17 traffic corridors and streets. The expansion extends the total road covered by the Unit to 951km in both directions.

“The Traffic Incident Management project jointly run with Dubai Police offers exceptional services to motorists, including addressing vehicle breakdowns, swift management of accident scenes, and restoring normal traffic flow,” said Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the RTA.

The RTA and Dubai Police are working to make the emirate's roads safer. Antonie Robertson/The National
The RTA and Dubai Police are working to make the emirate's roads safer. Antonie Robertson/The National

“The scope of the project also covers implementing temporary traffic diversions in the surrounding areas, aiding motorists, and providing traffic management support during events.

“Specific locations have been designated for the deployment of rapid response vehicles on major highways and critical roads to ensure their quick arrival at accident scenes, aiming for a response time of 10 minutes and a clearance time of 15 minutes.”

The expansion applies to the following roads:

  • Airport Street
  • Al Khail Road (Phase I from the Business Bay crossing to Ras Al Khor Road)
  • Al Khail Road (Phase II from Ras Al Khor Street to Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road)
  • Al Rabat Street
  • Al Wasl Street
  • Al Yalayis Street
  • Dubai – Al Ain Road
  • Emirates Road
  • Expo Road
  • Hessa Street
  • Jebel Ali-Lehbab Road
  • Jumeirah Street
  • Ras Al Khor Street
  • Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Road
  • Sheikh Zayed bin Hamdan Al Nahyan Street
  • Sheikh Zayed Road (encompassing Sheikh Rashid Road and Al Ittihad Road)
  • Umm Suqeim Street

"The project is set to shorten the clearance time for minor incidents by 35 per cent, cut down congestion and related expenses by 25 per cent, and diminish the frequency of secondary incidents,” explained Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri of Dubai Police.

"The goal is to position Dubai as a city characterised by safety and stability, where development is built on safeguarding lives and properties," he added.

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It's up to you to go green

Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.

“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”

When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.

He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.

“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.

One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.  

The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.

Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.

But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”

Up in the air
Updated: March 28, 2024, 12:07 PM
DubaiDubai PoliceUAE transport