With almost 10,000 people dying on the Gulf region’s roads last year, the UAE government has set a target of reducing road deaths to three deaths per 100,000 population by 2021, said the organisers of an upcoming road summit in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Natrans Arabia 2015, a first-of-its-kind conference-led exhibition, will turn its attention towards road safety during its Middle East Road Conference set to be held from October 25 to 27 at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

“The pertinence of the vision is even greater when compared to the UK market, which has a greater population than the GCC, recorded 1,807 road deaths and equating to one person every 4 hours and 45 minutes,” said Alex Heuff, exhibition director, Fleming Gulf, the organiser of Natrans Arabia.

“It is clear that some countries are performing better than others. Bahrain is the safest country in the GCC – 61 deaths occurring one every six days on average, (1 in 22,033 people) while in 2013, Saudi Arabia had the poorest record, a total of 7,867 deaths – averaging one every one hour and 20 minutes (1 in 3,801 people).

“Compared to the UK, which has one road death per 35,695 residents, the GCC still has a long way to go to, it witnesses one road fatality for every 5,030 residents. In the United Arab Emirates, a road death occurs on average every 12 hours with 712 deaths last year (1 in 13,295),” added Heuff.

The conference-led exhibition which is being held in partnership with the UAE Federal Transport Authority – Land and Maritime will examine potential solutions, such as wider more accessible public transport, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) and the latest safety measures in highway infrastructure development.

Dr Arif Mehmood, safety planning specialist, Intergrated Planning Division Department of Transport, Abu Dhabi said: “Over the last five years, a substantial 35 per cent decline in fatalities from 409 in 2009 to 267 in 2014. This is a huge improvement, however, we have not much progress reducing the number of non-injury crashes – besides the tragic loss of life, in all, traffic accidents cost the economy Dh3 billion annually.”

The Middle East Road Conference will also examine the progress of the region’s mega road project which is set to grow at a rapid pace over the next five years, valued at an estimated $32 billion.

The conference will also cover the international traffic management, (ITS), parking, road safety & maintenance of and transport infrastructure projects, such as multimodal systems and management have helped decrease accidents and the use of ITS technology in road safety.
Natrans Arabia also incorporates the region’s 6th Middle East Rail Opportunities Summit on the 25 - 27 October, where designs of nearly $200 billion in network projects will be presented, running from the Gulf coast from Kuwait, through Saudi Arabia, to the UAE and Oman, with branches linking Bahrain and Qatar. These projects will be completed before the end of the first quarter 2016.

“Construction is already in progress and will be fully operational in 2018. Abu Dhabi is spearheading the GCC rail network with its Dh40 billion ($10.9 billion), Etihad Rail link project, which stretches for 1,200 kilometres, from Ghweifat on the Saudi border to south of Fujairah on the Omani border,” said Heuff.

The third streamed seminar, Middle East Maritime Conference, will take an in-depth look at the different investments in the maritime industry, which are expected to reach $66 billion in the next three years, with the UAE contributing 30 – 35 per cent of the Middle East’s projected total investment valued at $190 billion over the next three years.

Running alongside the conferences is an exhibition accommodating over 100 exhibiting companies that is divided into four themed zones compatible with the conference streams, plus an extra zone showcasing intelligent transport systems. The exhibition is likely to attract in excess of 2,500 trade visitors. The exhibition has already attracted key support from the European Parking Association (EPA) and MAFEX, the Spanish Railway Association. – TradeArabia News Service