User:Echoes of Existence/Transport in the United Arab Emirates

Traffic in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an exponentially developing country that is considered a small nation in land area. Still, due to its diplomatic and economic relationships with 191 countries around the world, its legacy, reputation, and status among the leading countries is well-acknowledged. Although the UAE is considered a new country, its growth and development in the past few years made it a destination hub for people who seek opportunities, therefore increasing the population from 344,513 in the year of its establishment in 1971 to 9,591,853 in 2024. Therefore, the increase in population causes an increase in traffic congestion in the country. However, Hamad Al Shehhi, director of the Roads and Transportation Authority (RTA), stated that “Congestion at intersections is expected to drop significantly by nearly 95%”. One solution being studied in the UAE is to encourage public and shared modes of commuting to achieve the goal of becoming the best country to live in. Additionally, the Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure is performing studies and monitoring traffic movement 24/7, while also using Artificial Intelligence to understand the causes of traffic congestion and find solutions to solve it. Therefore, traffic management plays an important role in seamlessly improving traffic and mobility for residents and tourists commuting within the country.

Current Traffic Congestion in Major Emirates

Percentage of Vehicles in the UAE per Emirate.

This graph demonstrates the % of Vehicles in each Emirate

People spend 20 hours per week stuck in traffic (around 8.4% of their weekly time). Dubai emirate comes in first place with 1.44 million vehicles per emirate, followed by Abu Dhabi with 0.98 million vehicles, then Sharjah with 0.46 million vehicles. In contrast, the other emirates combined (Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Fujairah, and Ras Al Khaimah) have around 0.63 million vehicles.

Dubai, being a globally recognized and go-to destination city with nearly 66.6 million visitors annually, has some challenges when it comes to traffic congestion between the two main roads that connect the other Emirates and the Dubai Emirate called: “UAE road” and “Mohammed Bin Zayed road”. These roads play an important role in daily commuting because they act as a vital artery, linking the emirates of the country to each other. Furthermore, these roads act as a traffic hub, contributing to facilitating traffic flow and the movement of transport between the Emirates.

Factors that Contribute Towards Traffic Congestion

Several factors contributed to the increased traffic congestion experienced by many drivers in the UAE over the past years, as follows:

• Urbanization: Due to the rapid increase of populations in urban areas, more people opted to own their vehicles for transportation.
• Population growth: In the year 2012 Dubai’s Population was close to 2.3 million individuals. By the year 2022, Dubai has noted an increase in its population by 52.5% reaching 3.5 million people in 10 years.
• Economic: Traffic congestion increases the total cost of delivering goods, by delaying the arrival of goods. In addition, traffic congestion increases operational costs on the business corporation level.

Impacts of Traffic Congestion on

People:

Time spent in traffic causes an increase in stress levels between drivers and impacts their mood, making the drivers unstable and causing them to get frustrated.

Economy:

Each minute a car's engine is turned on while being stuck in traffic causes significant fuel consumption, with approximately 1.6 million liters of fuel being consumed annually, which results in an increased amount of money spent on fuel refills.

Environment:

Yearly CO2 emissions due to traffic congestion reach 105 Kilograms of Carbon Dioxide released into the atmosphere, which leads to global warming.

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