Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) in Dubai plans to operate the e-scooter at five zones early next week, namely the Mohammad Bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai Internet City, 2nd of December Street, Al Rigga and Jumeirah Lake Towers, it said on Wednesday.

The announcement came as part of several discussions during a coordinative meeting with Dubai Police recently. E-scooters, short for electronic scooters, are stand-up scooters powered by a small electric motor. The have become popular worldwide and dozens of cities have launched scooter-sharing schemes.

During the meeting between RTA and Dubai Police, the two parties reviewed the trial-run of the e-scooter, an individual means of transport that is increasingly being used globally as a solution to the first and last-mile challenge.

The meeting was led by Mattar Mohammad Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of the RTA Roads and Lieutenant General Abdullah Khalifa Al Marri, Commander-in-Chief of Dubai Police.

The meeting discussed the cooperation between RTA and Dubai Police in operating the e-scooter and enacting legislation and laws to boost the safety of cycling track users.

The meeting reviewed RTA’s plans to build more cycling tracks. The two parties also discussed the Trucks Rest Stops project undertaken by RTA with the private sector and other projects.

The meeting came as part of periodic meetings held by the two parties to promote their cooperation in common fields relating to the security and safety of roads and public transport systems in Dubai.

Cycling tracks

The delegation of Dubai Police reviewed RTA’s plan for constructing cycling tracks. So far, cycling tracks constructed in Dubai extend 425km and the plan is to extend them further to 64 km by 2025. Through constructing cycling tracks RTA aims to facilitate the link of Dubai’s hotspots with various public transit means.

Truck rest stops

The meeting also discussed the movement of trucks, which make more than 145,000 trips transporting about 3 million tonnes of cargo around Dubai every day.

RTA reviewed the Integrated Trucks Rest Stop at Dubailand, nearby Emirates Road, that was constructed in partnership with the private sector. It is the first integrated trucks rest stop that meets the basic daily needs of heavy vehicles in Dubai.

Construction works have exceeded 60 per cent in the project that spans an area of five hectares and provides 100 parking slots for trucks and several other facilities and services for both trucks and drivers, including a specialist heavy vehicle testing centre. RTA constructed 18 temporary truck rest areas on the right-of-way with a total capacity of 538 parking slots.

These rest areas spread all over Dubai’s key roads to provide a safe and convenient parking area for trucks during the movement ban. The two parties also discussed challenges facing car rental companies and how to support the sector through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coordinative meetings

The two parties reviewed the common 13 traffic projects during the period 2017-2021 highlighted by the Dubai Traffic Safety Strategy 2017-2021. The implementation of this strategy contributed to reducing traffic fatalities from 2.5 cases per 100,000 of the population in 2017 to 2.3 cases in 2019. Discussions also covered updating the enforcement of speed control systems, crossing the red signal, and the joint camp for testing trucks and promoting traffic awareness.