The

STMP NewS
Newsletter Published by the Department of Transport
In September 2007, the Abu Dhabi Government published the Plan Abu Dhabi 2030: Urban Structure Framework Plan, a plan for the development of the City of Abu Dhabi that will guide planning decisions for the next quarter of a century.
It has been projected that in order to support this growth in industry, economy, population and tourism, there will be an even greater increase in demand for transport. To meet this demand for travel, provisions will need to be put in place for a comprehensive public transport system using bus, rail and ferry services, together with policy measures to control road use, such as initiatives to encourage behavioural change away from use of personal car transport towards public transport. The plan was created to deliver upon the vision of His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, for the continued fulfilment of the grand design envisaged by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and the ongoing evolution of Abu Dhabi as a global capital city. In order to fulfil the 2030 vision, the population is set to grow to approximately 3.1 million by the year 2030.

Issue One : May 2008

Plan Abu Dhabi 2030

Analysis has shown that without such a transport system, the continuation of the existing car dependent situation will result in traffic gridlock within the next 10 years.

Key developments in Abu Dhabi metropolitan area which are driving the future demand for transport.

Abu Dhabi Surface Transport Master Plan

The STMP will comprise a comprehensive set of policies and plans for passenger and freight transport, which reflect leading international practices, thus delivering a world class sustainable transport system supporting Abu Dhabis environmental, economic and cultural goals.

The Abu Dhabi Surface Transport Master Plan (STMP) was commissioned by the Department of Transport in February 2008 to develop the conceptual transportation strategy, outlined in Plan 2030, into a detailed Master Plan and implementation programme for the city of Abu Dhabi and the rest of the Emirate.

This will provide an achievable delivery programme, involving both the public and private sectors, together with the appropriate institutional structures to ensure that the recommended policies and plans are implemented in time to serve the phased construction of the city. In addition to developing the comprehensive transport plan to 2030, a key element of the STMP is the need to consult and inform the residents, commuters and stakeholders within Abu Dhabi of how these changes will affect them

THE STMP NEwS Newsletter Published by The Department of Transport

Major STMP Issues and Options

The first major workshop, titled Issues and Options was held on 13th March 2008 at the Millennium Hotel in Abu Dhabi, and was introduced and chaired by the Department of Transport Chairman, HE Abdulla Khalaf Al Otaiba. The event was attended by approximately 65 senior consultants representing key Government agencies and developers, as well as staff from the Department of Transport. Key speakers included STMP Project Director Andy Clarke (Mott MacDonald), and Martin Tillman (Steer Davies Gleave), the Team Leader for Planning and Policy. Presentations introduced the project and highlighted the aims of the day, which included the need for delegates to identify key issues for their organisations. This was followed by a Q&A session as well as a breakout session, which encouraged delegates to view a number of information boards set out around the room, depicting the 10 geographical areas of Abu Dhabi. Using the boards as a basis the delegates discussed the current transport development issues in each area, how those issues might develop in accordance with the current economic growth, and what transport solutions would be the most suitable to mitigate those problems. This promoted a considerable debate relating to not only the issues within each geographical area, but also regarding transport issues and options applicable more widely within Abu Dhabi. Popular topics discussed included the problems of road congestion, on-street car parking, freight transport, the transport of labourers, commute distances and links between Abu Dhabi island and the mainland and the likely costs of major transport schemes. The foremost options identified by delegates to solve these issues were an intercity railway (for both passenger and freight transport), a metro system,

workshop Achieves Successful Stakeholder Partnership

As part of the study teams responsibility to consult and inform throughout the development of the STMP, workshops are held to interact, consult and share knowledge with key stakeholders, whilst gathering additional information for use within the STMP.
development of local public transport (tram and bus), ferry services, the integration of public transport within developments and land-use planning policies more generally, event management issues, parking demand management, controls of car use, provision of underground or multi-storey car parking, the widening / construction of highways and the application of pedestrian oriented urban design. The information gathered at the workshop is now being evaluated and will inform the formulation of a range of alternative transport scenarios to be tested and evaluated over the coming months. This forms a key part of the next stage of development of the Transport Master Plan.

he Abdulla Khalaf Al Otaiba & Dr Salem Alshafei discuss key objectives at the Issues and Options workshop.

The STMP will be completed in February 2009. It comprises three phases:

Phase 1: Assessment (3 months) This Phase is now complete and involved a comprehensive review of existing conditions, policies and plans to identify the key issues and options to be addressed, along with the additional information required to evaluate future policy/ planning scenarios. The assessment of issues and options included extensive and inclusive consultations with key stakeholders and residents of Abu Dhabi. A detailed specification for the development of future forecasting and evaluation models will be prepared to ensure that the appropriate tools are developed to analyse and control the increasingly complex transport network. Phase 2: evaluation (6 months) This will provide a comprehensive analysis of all the likely impacts of alternative scenarios for the management and development of the transport system. This will also involve the formulation of a range of alternative policy and planning scenarios, characterised by different approaches to meeting agreed social, economic and environmental goals. These scenarios will be assessed against the objectives of the STMP using a wide range of criteria to quantify impacts on the economy, the environment, road safety and other issues. The results of these evaluations and comparisons will be circulated and discussed in workshops, after which a preferred scenario, or combination of scenarios, will be developed in more detail, for further evaluation.

The STMP Process

Phase 3: Implementation Plan (3 months) This final stage will result in implementation schedules and action plans for each key stakeholder involved in the plan. This will include recommendations for ensuring that they have the capability and resources to carry out their assigned tasks effectively, along with a financing plan that will identify the flows of funds. A performance monitoring system will be developed both as a means of monitoring progress on implementing the plan and to assess the extent to which this progress contributes to achieving the plans overall social, economic and environmental objectives.

FOR FURTheR INFORMATION

If you have any questions regarding the STMP, the workshops, or would like to be involved in any future workshops that are being held, then please email the STMP team at contact@transportabudhabi.ae Alternatively, contact information and further details regarding Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 and the STMP Plan can be viewed on the newly released STMP websitewww.transportabudhabi.ae