Saving in fuel consumption jumped from 296 thousand liters in 2011 to 644 thousand liters in 2013, saving in customers’ time leapfrogged from 61 thousand hours in 2011 to 153 thousand hours in 2013, and financial savings of customers more than doubled from 3.362 million dirham in 2011 to 7.635 million dirham in 2013.
“Equally, the number of e-transactions grew from 1.746 million transactions in 2011 to more than 2 million transactions in 2013; which resulted in a savings in the number of papers estimated as 2.767 million papers in 2011 and the paper savings clocked 6.272 million papers in 2013; which translates into saving of trees cut from around 100 trees in 2011 to 215 trees in 2013. The electronic drive also resulted in saving of carbon emissions (carbon footprint) from 955 kg in 2011 and the amount of carbon saving reached more than 2.068 million kg in 2013,” elaborated Al Tayer.
“In keeping with the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to achieve environmental sustainability, conserve energy sources for future generations and realize the strategic goals of the Dubai Government aimed at making people happier and improving the level of services, the RTA embarked in 2011 in calculating the positive environmental impacts associated with the diversion of the services of the Licensing Agency to smart & electronic services enabling customers, be it citizens, residents or visitors to have their transactions processed electronically 24/7.
“In 2012, the RTA benefited from a study it commissioned to examine transport movement in Dubai which measured the length & duration of trips in Dubai, along with the associated fuel consumption per kilometer done. The inputs of this study were integrated with the processing of transactions in an electronic environment that does not require visiting the customers’ service center. The result was an upfront saving on customer’s time & effort plus savings on fuel costs and vehicle consumption, and it was possible to work out the magnitude of savings made of all electronically performed transactions. In 2013 estimates were given for the cost of fuel consumption made by customers’ vehicles along with the associated savings of power sources including government subsidy to consumed petrol,” explained RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director.
“The introduction of the electronic systems and NOL card service in the Public Transport Agency and the Dubai Taxi Corporation has considerably contributed to saving customers’ time and huge savings in the amounts of fuel consumed; which accordingly translates into reducing the environmental impact of air pollution as well as conserving & optimizing power consumption. The transformation also contributed to slashing the number of dead or wasted kilometers (without passengers on board), significantly improving the efficiency of public transport, and improving the on-time arrivals and departures of public buses at stations and bus stops; which in turn had reduced the operational waste of bus & taxi fleets such as different types of oils, tyres and batteries,” explained Al Tayer.
“From inception, the RTA was keen to ensure that all projects and mass transit systems are environment-friendly. Upon the construction and operation of its biggest public transport projects, the Dubai Metro, the RTA opted to use a rail technology that renders this pioneering project friendly to the environment, considering the massive amount of electric power needed for operating trains and powering stations. Hence it was inevitable right from the beginning of the design works of the metro systems to focus on optimizing power consumption to the maximum; which involved setting out specific and comprehensive standards for various components of the project. In June 2008, the RTA started the trial run of ten hybrid environment-friendly vehicles (Chevrolet Tahoe and Malibu) powered by fuel & electricity. It also substituted the modern bus fleet with buses compatible with Euro IV and Euro V standards with engines fitted with Selective Catalyst Reduction (SCR) system to curb nitrogen oxides emissions. It also started the trial operation of 3 abras fitted with motors using compressed natural gas rather than diesel, and launched the Green Bus that uses B05 biodiesel which contains 5% of recycled food oil,” said Al Tayer in a final remark.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Nadeen El Ajou
Quelle/Source: AMEinfo, 06.12.2014
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