ABU DHABI // Planners looking for the best ways to solve traffic problems are to be helped by a new computer model. The model, which can be applied across the country, will help them decide whether to build new roads, expand existing ones or add more public transport. Planners can input details, such as the predicted population growth in an area, to calculate the travel demand on roads.
The model is seen as an important step towards the integrated national transport plan which the National Transport Authority (NTA) intends to make available to the public in a policy paper this year. The model would help planners make decisions that took into account the benefits and costs of changes to transport infrastructure, said Nasser al Mansoori, the director general of the NTA. According to Pat Hayes, the programme director for the Transport Research Laboratory in Dubai, it would be essential in ensuring the success of initiatives developed under the NTA's 20-year transport plan.
The authority is particularly concerned with inter-emirate and cross-border transport. The economies of Dubai, Sharjah and Ajman are increasingly integrated and need plans that ensure the efficient movement of goods and people. @Email:mchung@thenational.ae
