The future of transport to see more of cycles and scooters

DUBAI: With a vision of making Dubai the best city in the world to live in, its urban planning and transport authorities have a new focus: providing more green spaces, increasing the number of cycle routes, and expanding the road and public transportation network.

Speaking about the future of transport during a Cities on the Move session, a World Majlis discussion during Expo 2020’s Urban and Rural Development Week, Muna Al Osaimi, Director Transportation Strategic Planning Department, Roads, and Transport Authority (RTA), UAE predicted an increase in the popularity of shared mobility.

Al Oasimi said, “There will be more, and different kinds of, shared mobility, including personal shared mobility, such as cycling and the use of scooters. The spread of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) will also continue, which is where we’ll see disruptions.”

Al Osaimi also foresees a consequent change in car manufacturers’ business models, with big data and artificial intelligence (AI) heavily influencing mobility services, while Dubai implements an autonomous strategy to meet future demands. “We are aiming to reach 25 per cent of trips to be travelled by autonomous modes by 2030. We have signed an agreement with GM Cruise and by late 2023, we will have autonomous taxis on the ground hopefully, so that’s a major shift.”

With an urban population predicted to reach 800 million by 2050, providing mass rapid transit (MRT) systems in India is a key priority. Shri Jaideep, OSD – Urban Transportation, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India focused on the need for a low- to zero-energy consumption. He said, “We formulated the Metro Policy 2017, which enabled many new cities to join the metro map. However, that metro system construction is very, very cost-intensive. This is why we are now implementing low-cost [lighter and smaller] options that provide the same experience – metro Light and metro Neo.”

Vipul Roongta, Managing Director & CEO of HDFC Capital Advisors Ltd also focused on affordability, saying the primary reason people do not live close to their workplace is that they cannot afford it. He said, “In India, over the last five to six years, a lot of emphasis is going into making housing significantly more affordable. The fact that you are able to make cities more affordable automatically shortens people’s travel distances because they don’t have to live in the peripheral areas.”

Innovation is addressing the issues of convenience and affordability. Mark A Taylor, Managing Director, MENA, Mace Group, said, “If you look at what a hyperloop is: in a nutshell, it is aerospace and high-speed rail technologies, which are accessible to you and me.”

Innovation is providing solutions to many of today’s greatest challenges. Taylor added: “The hyperloop is an electric vehicle. Every single part is now battery-powered. It’s not on a linear distribution system like a high-speed rail – you have electric pods, battery-operated in an environment where you require very little energy.”

The benefits of hyperloop were further highlighted at deep-tech company Zeleros’ press conference, which was held at the Spain Pavilion.

Juan Vicén Balaguer, Co-Founder, and CMO of Zeleros hyperloop, which is developing a scalable hyperloop system, said, “The benefits of this new transport system are that it is weather-sealed; it is five to 10 times more efficient than airplanes for the same routes, and it is fully electric, so [it] doesn’t use fossil fuels to operate. And finally, from city centre to city centre, it has all the benefits of a metro, but on a global level… The Middle East is going to be one of the first regions to host hyperloop because of the transition from fossil fuel- to an innovation-driven economy. Countries [in the region] want to upgrade their transport infrastructure, and they have the willingness to create this route and take it to the next level, and the willingness to invest. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are well-positioned to be the first movers… and this Expo is the best platform to showcase the benefits of hyperloop to the world.”

Expo 2020 Dubai’s Premier Global Trade Partner DP World will be making hyperloop-powered cargo transport a reality in four to five years’ time. DP World Cargospeed, created through a partnership between DP World and Virgin Hyperloop, provides hyperloop-enabled cargo systems that will enable fast, sustainable and efficient delivery of palletised cargo around the world.

A DP World spokesperson said, “Everyone benefits when they have better access to goods, have better access to opportunities in person, and have better access to information to make informed decisions.”

Source: Expo 2020 website