‘AD tariff system will reduce traffic congestion’

Aya Al Deeb, Staff Reporter

The number of vehicles registered in the emirate of Abu Dhabi exceeded one million vehicles in 2018, an increase of 6% annually, according to the Department of Transport-Abu Dhabi (DoT). The Department pointed out that the number of vehicles amounted to 964,000 in 2017, compared with 640,000 in 2010.

The department attributed the increase in the number of vehicles in the emirate to the increase of the population of Abu Dhabi city from 900,000 in 2009 to 1,74 million in 2017, which is expected to reach 2,47 million by 2030.

The Department also pointed to the increase in traffic on the bridges leading to Abu Dhabi Island in the morning rush hour from 44,500 vehicles in 2015 to 46,500 vehicles in 2017.

“The Abu Dhabi tariff system will help reduce traffic congestion, increase the efficiency of the emirate’s transport sector, and reduce the number of vehicles to 4,000 vehicles during rush hours.” The Department indicated.

“The study on the implementation of the traffic tariff gates system took about two years, including a questionnaire during the current year, where it was stressed that 21% of participants noted they were ready to change their travel times during the application of the traffic tariff system,” the Department added.

The Department affirmed the implementation of the tariff system in Abu Dhabi comes in implementation of Law No.17 of 2017 on traffic tariffs in Abu Dhabi, aiming to reduce traffic congestion by encouraging the public to use public transport, reduce the individual use of vehicles and encourage the participation of cars by individuals working at the same place, at the family level.

Recently, the Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) in Abu Dhabi announced that 40 bus stops have been converted into taxi stands on Abu Dhabi Island. This is in aim of providing innovative solutions for parking management in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

This step aims to optimise the use of parking spaces and regulate them to increase the level of satisfaction among taxi users by decreasing random parking and making hiring taxis easier.