Limitless has invited bids for the design and construction of its Downtown Jebel Ali people mover, with the contract due to be awarded by mid-2009.

The people mover, a quiet, convenient and environmentally-friendly alternative to the car, will carry residents and visitors around each of the four zones that will make up the 200 hectare Downtown Jebel Ali development.

Designed to cut car use and reduce congestion, it underpins Limitless’ commitment to sustainability by moving people, not just cars, in all of its large-scale developments.

'Downtown Jebel Ali will be a sustainable, transport-rich development where people can live, work and visit without owning a car,' said Salah Ameen, project director, Downtown Jebel Ali.

'There are 600 million cars on our planet, and road congestion will cost more than $700 million in human efficiency over the next decade as people spend, on average, five years of their life in traffic.'

'Downtown Jebel Ali is designed around using two legs instead of four wheels, with a number of transport options – metro links,  people movers and areas where people can walk or cycle – to reduce car dependency and our collective impact on the environment.'

Limitless is also working with the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority to build three of the four Dubai Metro stations that will be located in Downtown Jebel Ali.

The four zones within the development will each have a Metro station alongside a distinctive, mixed-use central plaza building, providing easy transport links to other zones and to the rest of Dubai.

Downtown Jebel Ali – under construction along an 11 km stretch of Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai – will house 200,000 people in 326 buildings, 237 of which will be residential towers.-TradeArabia News Service