Lakhasly

The high income of the Gulf States has facilitated heavy investment
in extensive road networks, with high-capacity highways and arterials
encircling neighbourhoods and cities. In Oman, massive investment in
the road system has created a strong network of roads reaching even
remote areas. The country paved and repaired nearly 6,000 km of roads
from 2007 to 2009.152 in Saudi Arabia, Jeddah’s network comprises
564 km of roads, including 100 km of freeways that by the city’s own
admission are over-scaled and inefficient consumers of urban land.
Concurrent with rising GDP per capita and road construction projects,
the Gulf has motor vehicle ownership rates roughly equivalent to those
of other high-income countries. From 2004 to 2009 the number of
registered vehicles grew by 150 per cent in Bahrain 153, by 149 per cent
in Abu Dhabi from 2006 to 2008. 154 and by 143 per cent in Qatar from
2002 to 2007. 155 Riyadh, where, on average, households have 1.7 cars,
saw the number of daily vehicular trips increase from 1 million in 2006
and 6 million in 2007 (Figure 3).
Unique among Arab countries, the GCC has the resources to
implement ambitious urban transport plans as part of broader
development vision. The Gulf governments have developed
transportation master plans to reduce congestion and improve public
transit, the safety of pedestrian networks and the general quality of
urban life. Following the 2008 financial crisis, some development
and transit projects have been put on hold or cancelled. Given the
long-term value of public transport networks, most of these projects
will ultimately move forward. The most ambitious urban public
transportation undertakings are in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Jeddah.
Given their small size, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar are focusing
on regional rail, bridge and air linkages with other cities in the region;
these initiatives are explored in Section 4.8 emerging issues [10-13].
Despite their high rate of motorization, roads in the GCC countries
are relatively safe when compared with other Arab countries, although
with the exception of Bahrain, less so than in the advanced economies.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have the worst road safety record, with an
average of 200 accidents per day in Jeddah in 2007, 173 and the UAE
has the ninth-highest rate of fatalities in the world. 174 Traffic-related
deaths in Oman have consistently risen since 2000 and may soon
overtake the rates in Qatar and Saudi Arabia if measures are not taken
to improve road safety. Traffic fatalities are also on the rise in Bahrain.