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RTA opens 7 metro stations on 30 April, 3 others on 15 May

Stations ready to receive passengers

Al Tayer: Station to be opened include Emirates, Airport Terminal 1, Al Karama, Emirates Towers, Dubai Internet City, Marina and Ibn Battuta stations

28 buses to be deployed to link the stations with surrounding areas

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA), announced the opening of 7 stations on the Red Line of Dubai Metro on 30 April 2010 and 3 more on 15 May 2010.

“The Consortium undertaking Dubai Metro Project is set to complete all works on the remaining 18 stations on the Red Line of Dubai Metro project on 25 April 2010 and 7 stations of which will be opened on 30 April 2010; namely: Emirates, Airport Terminal 1, Al Karama, Emirates Towers, Dubai Internet City, Marina and Ibn Battuta stations. 3 others are planned to be opened on 15 May 2010, namely: GGICO, World Trade Centre and Al Qouz stations, and the remaining 8 stations on the Red Line will be opened over the next months of this year” said Al Tayer.

Al Tayer commented on the criteria upon which the new stations have been selected for opening and said: “Stations have been selected based on the extent of population density in the locality served by each station so as to provide convenient services to the inhabitants in the neighbourhood, availability of commercial activities in the area served by each station, availability of government activities in the vicinity of each station, the station integration with other transport modes such as buses & water transport means, and the projected number of commuters at each station”.
“As RTA is keen on maintaining the safety of Dubai Metro users, systems and installations, and assigning considerable importance to the safety & readiness of operating systems of trains and stations as well as phased trial runs, it observed a strict compliance with the highest global safety standards, sought the services of international organizations to assess the safety standards throughout the project phases, introduced cutting-edge rail technology, and provided all means of comfort and luxury to passengers” he said.
Al Tayer added: “RTA has carried out site surveys for the neighbourhood of the Dubai Metro Stations opening shortly and accordingly opened up new bus routes to feed the metro stations. 28 buses are being deployed to link the metro stations with the surrounding areas and the service is set to run at 13-20 minutes headway (intervals)”.
RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director commented on the metro ridership and said: “Since it had been launched on 9/9/2009 till the end of March last, the Dubai Metro lifted 13.68 million persons and the daily ridership has reached 80k passengers. These numbers are set to rise with the opening of the ten stations this April and next May, and the total ridership of Dubai Metro is expected to hit 35 million passengers by the end of 2010. The number of the metro users is poised to receive a further boost with the operation of the Green Line in August 2011; which will serve vital areas with commercial & government activities and huge population density”.
“The huge investments pumped by the Government of Dubai to uplift the infrastructure of transportation sector has paid dividends and proved effective. The increase in the number of mass transit mode users reflect improvement in the culture of using public transport by all segments of the community and the drive was particularly helped by the metro service. RTA public transport means, including the Dubai Metro, public buses, water transport and taxis, have lifted more than 288.777 million passengers in 2009 and the daily ridership of mass transit modes topped 842k passengers” stated Al Tayer.

“Using mass transportation has a host of benefits that include providing physical & psychological comfort to the user, minimizing crashes, economizing on fuel & maintenance costs of private vehicles and ridding the public from the hassles of finding parking spaces for their vehicles; which has become a challenge facing modern cities worldwide. Besides that, the use of public transportation effectively reduces environmental pollution resulting from the use of massive numbers of private vehicles; which triggers many ailments including respiratory system illnesses” said Al Tayer in a concluding statement.

RTA scoops 10 Awards of Dubai Govt Excellence Program

Mohammed bin Rashid, Hamdan bin Mohammed and Maktoum bin Mohammed Honouring the RTA.

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) offered deepest thanks and appreciation to HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai for patronizing the excellence and pioneering drive to boost the performance of the government sector, as illustrated in the establishment of Dubai Government Excellence Program (DGEP) in 1997. The Program was intended to be an integrated government excellence program at the global level, and a driving force to leverage the government performance and bring about a qualitative shift in the performance of government institutions based on sound and reliable international standards. HH has always made it clear that whoever takes a government post assumes a huge responsibility to work by heart and mind, continue to make continual successes and take pioneering role in keeping with the practices set by our ancestors and our expectations from the new generations.

RTA is also appreciative and grateful to HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council, for the ongoing follow-up of the performance of various government authorities and departments in the Emirate.“Thanks to the astute directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ongoing follow-up of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, dedication of RTA employees & fostering of team spirit, the continuous efforts made to keep pace with the latest developments at all fields, the introduction of modern administrative concepts, the substantial improvement of the performance level & attention made to human resources, and diffusing the spirit of creativity & innovation through motivating employees and nurturing a positive working environment, RTA has managed to realize several achievements and projects; which had contributed heavily to the advancement of the infrastructure of the Emirate” said Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA.

Al Tayer commended the efforts made by the winners and honourees and their willpower to achieve excellence in their respective jobs; which had been culminated by clinching the awards. He added that RTA winning these awards would be a huge impetus to do better at the administrative & technical levels, and keep up with the excellence drive.RTA has swept the lion share of the DGEP Awards. It won the Electronically Distinguished Government Entity Award, the Government Entity with the Most Advanced Performance, and the Distinguished Team Award (090909 Team which delivered Dubai Metro Project on time). Dr. Khalid Al Zahid won the Distinguished Government Employee Award in recognition of his efforts in planning, implementing and operating the water bus for the first time in the region, planning and commissioning Ferry Dubai and the Water Taxi for the first time in the region, delivering various initiatives that led to saving more than 260 million dirham, and raising revenues in excess of 10 million dirham. Ramadan Abdullah won the Distinguished Administrative Employee Award for contributing to the operation of Dubai Metro at the highest global standards and operating the Unified Card spanning various mass transit modes in the Emirate. Dr. Othman Metex won the Distinguished Technical/ Engineering Employee Award for his excellent contribution to the introduction of the new implementation methods and using new materials in the building of bridges and tunnels in Dubai with a view to minimizing costs, time and traffic diversions, besides compiling technical studies for the construction of bridges at world-class designs such as Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Bridge and Dubai Smile Bridge. Hussain Al Banna, Director of Traffic Dep’t, won the Distinguished Management Initiative Award for Madinati Scheme; which contributed to raising traffic safety levels, and maintaining the urbanized and aesthetic excellent appearance of Dubai City through involving individuals and community entities in the program. Ms Sarah Ishaq won the Distinguished New Employees Award in recognition of the several initiatives and excellent achievements, and two other employees were also honoured in the Unsung Hero Award category; namely Ismail Juma and Qaid Mohammed Al Halaqbi.

Early Registration Service for distinguished number plates

RTA licensing Agency has launched through Vehicle Licensing Dep’t the online number plate sales service in keeping with the strategic plan of the Agency. Customers can buy their preferred number plates from their homes, or office through the Early Request Service on the plates of the category (J), besides the online auctions of distinguished number plates; which are subject to a set of approved rules & conditions.

Early requests for number plates are sorted out automatically. The customer can directly buy the plate if there was no early request placed on that plate. In the event of receiving 2 to 5 early requests, an internal auction is held and restricted to the applicants only. In case early requests exceed 5, the Agency will place the plate in the open online auction where everybody can take part.

Customers can also pay their dues online by using Dubai e-Government online payment system, where they can effect payment through the e-Dirham, credit card, or bank account.

For more information please click on the link:

Early Registration Service for distinguished number plates