UAE motorists back public transportation as solution for traffic woes: Survey
29 June 2025 23:55
A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)UAE motorists overwhelmingly support enhanced public transport systems, broader road networks and flexible working hours as the most effective ways to combat daily traffic congestion, according to a new nationwide survey conducted by RoadSafetyUAE in collaboration with Al Wathba Insurance.The study, which polled 1,021 drivers across the country in June 2025, found that 83% of respondents advocate expanding the UAE's rail and bus network, with work-from-home incentives and increased highway capacity also emerging as top solutions to the country's growing mobility challenges.While gridlock has long plagued Dubai and Sharjah, the survey reveals that Abu Dhabi now experiences the highest congestion levels on three out of six key journey types—namely the afternoon return from work, the morning commute, and weekend travel. The findings underscore the mounting traffic pressure in the capital as its population and vehicular numbers grow.Nationwide, 86% of drivers say they 'typically' find themselves stuck in traffic, and four in five believe congestion has worsened compared to the previous year. Although 91% of Dubai motorists report routine delays, Abu Dhabi is not far behind.When asked about the root causes of traffic congestion, two-thirds of participants cited 'too many vehicles on the road'. More than half blamed uniform office start times, while nearly 50% pointed to simultaneous school runs and a high dependence on private cars. Other issues included poor driving behaviour, under-utilised carpooling, and the lack of viable alternatives such as cycling lanes.Speaking to Aletihad, RoadSafetyUAE founder Thomas Edelmann noted that public transport has long been recognised by experts as an effective way to reduce road congestion, but now the general public is echoing that sentiment.'Public transportation such as trams and metros was introduced in cities like Paris, London, and Vienna decades ago,' he said. 'The UAE, being a young nation, must fast-track these developments.'Sharing a personal example, Edelmann said: 'In my hometown, Vienna, a metro line was extended into what was essentially no man's land. But once it was built, development followed. We need more of this —metro, rail, and tram links — to address our growing traffic.'Muralikrishnan Raman, Chief Financial Officer at Al Wathba Insurance, said the survey aimed to 'elevate the discussion from anecdotal evidence to a fact-based and well-researched approach.'Edelmann added that the findings are meant to assist 'concerned authorities and stakeholders in understanding public perception about traffic congestion, the reasons behind it, and where improvements should be focused'.According to the study, rail infrastructure expansion is seen as the single most effective remedy for traffic woes, followed closely by remote working policies, which gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that flexible office timings could quickly ease peak-hour pressure if implemented more widely.
RoadSafetyUAE is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting road safety through education, awareness, and collaboration. It regularly partners with public and private sector entities to advocate safer driving practices and infrastructure improvements across the Emirates.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Web Release
2 hours ago
- Web Release
Global M&A resilient to tariff shock as executives lean in with dealmaking to exploit disruptions—Bain & Company M&A Midyear Report
Global mergers and acquisitions activity by leading companies is set to remain robust this year despite ongoing tremors from tariffs inflicting the third significant shock in five years to corporate executives' confidence in the business environment, Bain & Company forecasts today. Unpredictable shifts in tariffs policies are again heightening uncertainty over M&A decision-making, in the wake of earlier shocks from, first, the Covid-19 pandemic, and then soaring interest rates. But Bain's M&A Midyear Report concludes that the tariffs shock will be different, with executives who have weathered past crises drawing from the lessons to pursue bold strategic moves. Today's analysis anticipates a new wave of M&A dealmaking as companies focus on future-proofing businesses through greater scale, expanded capabilities, and strategic divestitures – despite continuing challenges from persistently higher rates, regulatory hurdles and AI disruption, as well as tariffs. The best companies are already working to determine how second- and third-order impacts from tariffs could alter the portfolios, M&A roadmaps and deal pipelines, Bain's report says. Bain notes that it is already seeing evidence that leading companies are not allowing tariffs – or the shift to a more multipolar world that they represent – to derail M&A plans. In one significant indicator of resilient M&A activity, the report notes that while deal volume and value dropped in April as the tariff era began, deal value rebounded in May: a signal that tariffs' impact may be more muted than that of other recent shocks. Overall, the strategic M&A market has grown 11% year-over-year through May. While the May bounce may partly reflect late-stage deals announced that month, Bain concludes that a bigger factor is that battle-hardened executives are becoming more strategic in exploiting disruptions to their advantage. These leaders are responding more nimbly to strategic challenges and keeping focused on a longer-term view of their M&A strategy, the report argues. 'In the present, challenging environment, it takes unique conviction and clarity to chart a multiyear strategy and proactively pursue M&A. Yet that's just what veteran executives are showing us they can do,' said Suzanne Kumar, executive vice president of Bain & Company's M&A and Divestitures practice. 'These executives are separating the signal from the noise and plowing ahead with transformations. Indeed, company leaders with a clear M&A roadmap grounded in a multiyear view will be best positioned to see past near-term volatility and identify unique opportunities for their businesses to make transformative moves.' M&A learnings from past shocks chart a course through ongoing challenges While taking an upbeat view of M&A prospects for the year, Bain acknowledges ongoing challenges for dealmakers. As they navigate swings in tariff policies and financial markets, executives also confront accelerating disruption from technology, especially AI, and intensified pressure to allocate capital to these and other newly critical capabilities, sometimes at the expense of M&A investments. The report notes that interest rates are likely to remain relatively high in the US amid ongoing inflationary pressures. Regulatory hurdles also remain elevated across markets, with the US administration maintaining antitrust scrutiny, even as it brings back merger remedies and streamlined processes, Bain observes. The report also notes that the impact from tariffs has also varied markedly across sectors, depending on factors such as supply chain dynamics and end markets. Industrial M&A has been hit harder, suffering a 15% drop in deal value, while tech M&A has rebounded as companies across industries snap up AI assets. Yet while executives navigate these disparate challenges, Bain's analysis identifies four key learnings from past crises that the most effective companies are applying to chart successful M&A strategies. First, companies that leverage their strength to continue to pursue M&A outperform those which stand still, Bain finds. Citing bold dealmaking during the global financial crisis of 2008, it reports that in the first half of 2025 some companies have now pursued opportunistic and strategically solid deals at lower valuations than were available at the same time last year. Secondly, Bain notes that forward-looking companies are continuing to recognise that disruptions generate demand for new capabilities, creating a strategic rationale for scope deals. The wide-ranging disruptions sparked by AI open up the pursuit of game-changing capabilities through M&A, it suggests. Thirdly, leading companies will continue to pursue consolidation deals as high interest rates and persistent cost pressures favor scale deals, the report concludes. Bain expects consolidation deals to continue to define the M&A market this year, especially in high-fixed-cost industries such as financial services, energy and telecommunications. Lastly, the report advises that the best businesses will continue to seek to expand their competitive advantage by examining how follow-on effects of tariffs will affect portfolios, M&A roadmaps and deal pipelines. Leading companies will screen potential assets to map their manufacturing footprint to the future shape of end markets, and update demand models to consider effects from slower global growth, supply chain realignments and shifting consumer behavior, it says. Alongside, the most effective companies will also strategically divest businesses which are no longer core, or where ownership advantages will not be the same in the future.
Al Etihad
17 hours ago
- Al Etihad
UAE motorists back public transportation as solution for traffic woes: Survey
29 June 2025 23:55 A. SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)UAE motorists overwhelmingly support enhanced public transport systems, broader road networks and flexible working hours as the most effective ways to combat daily traffic congestion, according to a new nationwide survey conducted by RoadSafetyUAE in collaboration with Al Wathba study, which polled 1,021 drivers across the country in June 2025, found that 83% of respondents advocate expanding the UAE's rail and bus network, with work-from-home incentives and increased highway capacity also emerging as top solutions to the country's growing mobility gridlock has long plagued Dubai and Sharjah, the survey reveals that Abu Dhabi now experiences the highest congestion levels on three out of six key journey types—namely the afternoon return from work, the morning commute, and weekend travel. The findings underscore the mounting traffic pressure in the capital as its population and vehicular numbers 86% of drivers say they 'typically' find themselves stuck in traffic, and four in five believe congestion has worsened compared to the previous year. Although 91% of Dubai motorists report routine delays, Abu Dhabi is not far asked about the root causes of traffic congestion, two-thirds of participants cited 'too many vehicles on the road'. More than half blamed uniform office start times, while nearly 50% pointed to simultaneous school runs and a high dependence on private cars. Other issues included poor driving behaviour, under-utilised carpooling, and the lack of viable alternatives such as cycling to Aletihad, RoadSafetyUAE founder Thomas Edelmann noted that public transport has long been recognised by experts as an effective way to reduce road congestion, but now the general public is echoing that sentiment.'Public transportation such as trams and metros was introduced in cities like Paris, London, and Vienna decades ago,' he said. 'The UAE, being a young nation, must fast-track these developments.'Sharing a personal example, Edelmann said: 'In my hometown, Vienna, a metro line was extended into what was essentially no man's land. But once it was built, development followed. We need more of this —metro, rail, and tram links — to address our growing traffic.'Muralikrishnan Raman, Chief Financial Officer at Al Wathba Insurance, said the survey aimed to 'elevate the discussion from anecdotal evidence to a fact-based and well-researched approach.'Edelmann added that the findings are meant to assist 'concerned authorities and stakeholders in understanding public perception about traffic congestion, the reasons behind it, and where improvements should be focused'.According to the study, rail infrastructure expansion is seen as the single most effective remedy for traffic woes, followed closely by remote working policies, which gained popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that flexible office timings could quickly ease peak-hour pressure if implemented more widely. RoadSafetyUAE is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting road safety through education, awareness, and collaboration. It regularly partners with public and private sector entities to advocate safer driving practices and infrastructure improvements across the Emirates.
Gulf Today
21 hours ago
- Gulf Today
World economy faces ‘pivotal moment' as uncertainty looms
Trade tensions and fractious geopolitics risk exposing deep fault lines in the global financial system, central bank umbrella body the Bank for International Settlements, said in its latest assessment of the state of the world economy. Outgoing head of the BIS, often dubbed the central bankers' central bank, Agustín Carstens, said the US-driven trade war and other policy shifts were fraying the long-established economic order. He said the global economy was at a 'pivotal moment', entering a 'new era of heightened uncertainty and unpredictability', which was testing public trust in institutions, including central banks. The bank's report is published just over a week before US President Donald Trump's trade tariff deadline of July 9 and comes after six months of intense geopolitical upheaval. When asked about Trump's criticisms of US Federal Reserve Jerome Powell, which have included Trump labelling the Fed chair as 'stupid', he was not overly critical. 'It is to be expected at certain points in time that there will be friction,' former Mexican central bank governor Carstens told reporters, referring to the relationship between governments and central banks. 'It is almost by design'. The BIS' annual report, published on Sunday, is viewed as an important gauge of central bankers' thinking given the Switzerland-based forum's regular meetings of top policymakers. Rising protectionism and trade fragmentation were 'particular concerning' as they were exacerbating the already decades-long decline in economic and productivity growth, Carstens said. There is also evidence that the world economy is becoming less resilient to shocks, with population ageing, climate change, geopolitics and supply chain issues all contributing to a more volatile environment. The post-COVID spike in inflation seems to have had a lasting impact on the public's perception about price moves too, a study in the report showed. High and rising public debt levels are increasing the financial system's vulnerability to interest rates and reducing governments' ability to spend their way out of crises. 'This trend cannot continue,' Carstens said referring to the rising debt levels and he said that higher military spending could push the debt up further. Hyun Song Shin, the BIS's main economic adviser, also flagged the sharp fall in the dollar. It is down 10% since the start of the year and on track to be its biggest H1 drop since the free-floating exchange rate era began in the early 1970s. He said there was no evidence that this was the start of a 'great rotation' away from US assets as some economists have suggested, but acknowledged that it was still too early to know given sovereign funds and central banks move slowly. Shorter-term analysis, though, showed 'hedging' by non-US investors holding Treasuries and other US assets appears to have made an 'important contribution' to the dollar's slide over the last few months. 'We haven't seen anything (yet) that would give us any cause for alarm,' Shin added. The BIS had already published one part of its report last week that gave a stark warning about the rapid rise of so-called stablecoins. In terms of the BIS' own finances, it said it made a net profit of 843.7 million IMF SDR ($1.2 billion), while its total comprehensive income reached a record high of SDR 3.4 billion ($5.3 billion) and currency deposits at the bank also reached a new high. 'It is important that the BIS has the highest creditworthiness out there,' Carstens said. Separately, US business activity slowed marginally in June, though prices increased further amid President Donald Trump's aggressive tariffs on imported goods, suggesting that an acceleration in inflation was likely in the second half of the year. The survey from S&P Global on Monday showed measures of prices paid by factories for inputs and charged for finished products jumped to levels last seen in 2022. Nearly two-thirds of manufacturers reporting higher input costs attributed these to tariffs while just over half of respondents linked increased selling prices to tariffs, S&P Global said. That supports economists' expectations that inflation would surge from June following mostly benign consumer and producer price readings in recent months. Economists have argued that inflation has been slow to respond to Trump's sweeping import duties because businesses were still selling stock accumulated before the tariffs came into effect. S&P Global's flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, slipped to 52.8 this month from 53.0 in May. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the private sector. Agencies
