Roads & Transport Authority - News Details

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA),and His Excellency Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police, held a coordination meeting to explore ways to strengthen collaboration across shared areas of responsibility, particularly traffic safety and transport security. The meeting reviewed the progress of the implementation plan for the Dubai Traffic Safety Strategy 2022–2026, road safety performance indicators for 2024, and the initiative to establish a Personal Mobility Monitoring Unit, including the registration framework for electric scooters.

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer praised the strategic partnership between the RTA and Dubai Police General Headquarters, highlighting the ongoing collaboration and strong team spirit that led to the successful execution of 53 joint initiatives and programs in 2024, playing a key role in achieving the strategy’s fatality reduction targets.

He underscored the importance of maintaining momentum to achieve targets of the approved performance indicators of the Dubai Traffic Safety Strategy 2022–2026 and realising its “Zero Fatalities” vision, to position Dubai as a global benchmark for road safety. His Excellency also reaffirmed RTA’s commitment to enhancing safety across all public transport and personal mobility services, while continuing to develop effective awareness and education platforms for all road users in the Emirate.

Awareness Efforts

His Excellency Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri commended the strategic partnership between Dubai Police General Headquarters and RTA, aimed at strengthening joint efforts that enhance safety, security, and well-being for citizens, residents, and visitors. He praised the joint teams for their active coordination in advancing road safety and traffic enforcement throughout the Emirate.

He confirmed that continued efforts to implement the Dubai Traffic Safety Strategy had resulted in a reduction of more than 90% in traffic fatalities and incidents over 18 years from 2007 to 2024.

“Awareness campaigns play a vital role in achieving these results. Targeted messaging on traffic safety laws and regulations has engaged all segments of society,” said Al Marri. He added: “A total of eight awareness campaigns reached over 255,000 individuals. More than 24 educational videos—highlighting the severe consequences of traffic violations, including injuries and fatalities—were produced, gaining over 117 million views. These outcomes highlight the effectiveness of awareness in promoting road safety and encouraging compliance.”

Traffic Enforcement

The meeting also reviewed enforcement efforts aimed at improving compliance. Over 145,000 violations were recorded involving delivery motorcycles, while violations involving bicycles and e-scooters totalled nearly 40,000. Approximately 60,000 pedestrian violations were also registered. Authorities impounded around 24,000 vehicles, nearly 4,000 delivery motorcycles, and more than 54,000 personal mobility devices.

Initiatives and Programmes

Participants reviewed the 53 initiatives implemented under the Dubai Traffic Safety Strategy, across four key pillars: 21 in road and vehicle engineering, 16 in systems and management, 11 in traffic awareness, and 5 in enforcement. Performance indicators showed remarkable improvement, including a decline in road fatalities from 21.7 per 100,000 people in 2007 to 1.8 in 2024.

Pedestrian fatalities dropped from 9.5 to 0.3, and the combined rate of fatalities and serious injuries declined from 36.2 to just 4, The death rate per 10,000 registered vehicles also fell from 4.2 to 0.45, Enforcement efforts were expanded to enhance compliance in areas such as pedestrian crossings, high-risk violations, and the safe use of motorcycles, bicycles, and electric scooters.

The meeting also discussed initiatives under the road engineering pillar, including the assessment and improvement of 23 high-risk locations with recurring incidents, the installation of 54 raised pedestrian crossings, and upgrades at multiple sites to enhance the safety of soft mobility users. Work is also underway to develop a smart management system for public transport drivers to improve safety within the sector.

Joint efforts between RTA and Dubai Police included 19 site visits to truck rest areas and 85 awareness workshops and field visits targeting delivery riders, engaging over 15,000 drivers. Additional pedestrian safety campaigns reached more than 10,000 workers and vehicle drivers.

Under the systems and management pillar, Dubai introduced the law governing autonomous vehicle operations and its executive regulations. The high-frequency incident location tracking system has been upgraded, and work continues to upgrade the traffic incident reporting platform.

Trucks and Motorcycles

The two entities explored opportunities to strengthen traffic enforcement and expand awareness campaigns targeting truck and motorcycle drivers. Trucks currently account for around 30% of total traffic volume on some major Dubai roads, while motorcycles represent about 4% of registered vehicles.

It was agreed to launch inspection and awareness campaigns on external roads, monitor compliance with truck movement restrictions on parts of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed and Emirates Roads, introduce and enforce a quality framework for delivery operations, and enhance training and licensing programmes for motorcycle delivery riders.

Personal Mobility Devices

The two parties also addressed the rise in the use of personal mobility devices. Bicycle trips increased from 44 million in 2023 to 46.6 million in 2024, representing 5% growth, while e-scooter trips rose from 30 million to 32.3 million over the same period, with an increase of 8.7%. First- and last-mile trips accounted for 1.7% of e-scooter use and 1.4% of bicycle use.

To enhance traffic safety on dedicated tracks and ensure adherence to safety standards, both parties agreed to establish a dedicated Personal Mobility Monitoring Unit. The unit will oversee compliance, regulate traffic flow on cycling lanes, and raise public awareness of safe usage protocols. Violators will be subject to the applicable penalties. Personnel will also be deployed to monitor activity across bicycle lanes and key streets connecting soft mobility zones.

Roads and Transport Plan

RTA presented its Roads and Transport Plan 2030, structured around four key pillars:

The first pillar focuses on road infrastructure, comprising 39 strategic projects that include the development and enhancement of major corridors. Highlights include the upgrade of Latifa bint Hamdan Street (from Al Khail Road to Emirates Road), and improvements to Hessa Street , Al MeydanStreet, Al Mustaqbal Street, and the Trade Centre Roundabout. Additional enhancements target Al Wasl, Jumeirah, Umm Suqeim, Al Qudra, Al Fay, and Al Safa  Roads—particularly the section between Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Wasl  Road.

The second pillar addresses transport policy, with several measures adopted to improve traffic flow. These include flexible working hours, remote work policies, dedicated bus lanes, school transport reforms, dynamic pricing for tolls and parking, and expanded truck movement restrictions.

The third pillar covers public transport development. Key projects include the construction of the Dubai Metro Blue Line, feasibility studies for suspended transit systems, expansion of dedicated lanes for buses and taxis, and enhancement of both the public bus network and marine transport infrastructure.

The fourth pillar focuses on smart traffic systems. RTA has launched Phase 2 of the Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) project, targeting 100% network coverage across Dubai. The initiative also includes upgrading the traffic incident management and emergency response system and improving the efficiency of signalised intersections.

Attendees from Dubai Police General Headquarters included Major General Abdullah Ali Al Ghaithi, Assistant Commander-in-Chief for Operations; and Major General Saif Muhair Al Mazrouei, Director of the General Department of Traffic. Representing RTA were Hussain Al Banna, CEO of the Traffic and Roads Agency; Ahmed Mahboob, CEO of the Licensing Agency; and several department directors from both organisations.