On January 20, the International Association of Public Transport (UITP) is officially announcing the theme of its 59th World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition ‘Boosting public transport: Action!’ The Congress and the Exhibition will be hosted by Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA) on 10-14 April 2011 in Dubai. UITP and RTA welcomed press and media to a press conference organised for the event at the RTA Auditorium located in Umm Ramool, Dubai.

Originally conceived as a “car city”, Dubai recognised the critical need for more sustainable mobility and is now developing public transport as its backbone. Today, the city of Dubai offers extensive multimodal public transport and it is recognised for its forward-looking and ambitious mobility policy, based on extensive city benchmarking.

Dubai has purposeful modal shift targets for public transport, from 6% in 2005 to 30% in 2020, making it the ideal host city for the 59th World Congress and Exhibition of the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), as probably one of the first cities to achieve UITP’s visionary strategy of doubling public transport market shares worldwide.

With the concrete and exhortatory theme ‘Boosting Public Transport: Action!’, the International Association of Public Transport and RTA are calling the entire supply chain to mobilisation and action: authorities, operators and industry all have to review and improve their practice, efficiency and attractiveness.

H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of RTA said: “Hosting the 59th UITP World Congress and Exhibition is proof that Dubai has earned a distinguished reputation in the World and with well-known associations and prominent Congress organizers, surpassing all expectations for showcasing world class events.”

“Efficient and sustainable transport helps stabilize the global energy market, contributes to alleviating climate change and supports economic growth and quality of life in cities by relieving congestion and offering mobility to all. Public Transport means progress for societies” stated UITP Secretary General, Hans Rat.

To allow public transport to deliver its contribution to society in the most effective way, five strategic axes must be put in place: urban governance, business culture, investment, customers as core value and demand management.

The Dubai Congress will review the priorities identified in UITP’s ambitious strategy for the sector and will be the first important milestone for UITP to assess what has been achieved and what is still needed in order to achieve its vision: doubling the public transport market share worldwide by 2025.

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Notes to Editors

UITP (International Association of Public Transport) is the international network for public transport authorities and operators, policy decision-makers, scientific institutes and the public transport supply and service industry. It is a platform for worldwide cooperation, business development and the sharing of know-how between its 3,100 members from 90 countries. UITP is the global advocate for public transport and sustainable mobility, and the promoter of innovations in the sector. For more information, please visit www.uitp.org.

For more information about the 59th UITP World Congress and Mobility & City Transport Exhibition, please visit www.uitp.org/events/2011/dubai/en/.

For more information about Roads and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA), please visit www.rta.ae.

UITP Press contact: Sarah D’Angelo | UITP Press Junior Manager

Direct phone: +32 (0)2 6636639 | Fax: +32 (0)2 6601072 | sarah.dangelo@uitp.org