The Dubai municipal head says the problem is not the roads or the systems but a Dubai. He added it’s not just Dubai alone, the entire UAE is having the similar issues with so many cars on the roads it is also affecting our atmosphere. The alarming rise in the population of the country the municipal committee is considering the law to restrict car ownership.
Municipal committee recommends that people who get a certain salary bracket which is not yet defined should be allowed to own a car; another restriction could be the number of cars owned by a single family. It can also be done by considering the size of the family. These recommendations will surely make the officials to reconsider the law about lowering the driving age in UAE from 18 to 16years which probably means more cars on the roads. This is in addition to the expected growing expats in UAE.
How the suggestions could be implemented with the growing number of population is very major issue. One cannot stop the business, but one has to think of their priority is it traffic jams and pollution on the roads or smooth traffic with less traffic on roads. The air quality is also suffering from the pollution. The main reason of pollutant air is the car emissions, parked cars with running engines cause more pollution.
The officials at the municipal committee were asked if the problem of pollution can be fixed by other means or systems instead of restricting car ownership. They said the air quality is constantly monitored, it’s getting polluted day by day why not use the public transport we have our buses, metro, taxis. We are building our own green city; we have to prepare ourselves for the future. There is lot of challenges and we have to get ready to face them. Other than that cars will undergo comprehensive testing each year with the testing of the level of pollution they cause. Plus there will be some strict specifications on the quality of cars that are allowed to be imported.
Even if the salary related restriction does not go into effect, Dubai authorities are committed to reducing traffic congestion. In Dubai cars are getting a little bit expensive an average salaried person cannot afford those cars. They are also considering an increase on parking fees, fuel prices, toll road fees and insurance rates to further limit car ownership. As an alternative to driving, Dubai is attempting to improve its public transport system with a new train system that began testing this year.
