Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Traffic congestion in Dubai cost the economy $7

90 million in terms of lost working hours during 2013, according to statistics compiled by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), it was reported on Sunday.

Gulf News reported that the RTA said if it hadn’t carried out $16 billion worth of infrastructure upgrades, including building roads and developing the public transport network, the loss would have been $4.5 billion for 2013.

As a result of upgrades carried out between 2006 and 2013, the RTA says there was a saving of $19.7 billion in the cost of time and fuel owing to road congestion.

Nasser Abu Shehab, RTA’s director of strategic transport planning, said the RTA will spend between $1.3 billion and $1.9 billion each year over the next few years to develop the transportation infrastructure, with an emphasis on mass transit options, like the Dubai Metro.