In the new age, to progress, a society needs to adapt to new technologies and processes, which will advance the quality of life for everyone without compromising the environment or taxing the economy. Any development in the current times must factor in sustainability of that project, effect on the nature and the value it brings to the society.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications’ plan to start trial of Automatic Rapid Transit – an innovative, modern and environment-friendly public transport system – from next week in Al Khor is an ideal example of modern approach to public transport issues.
With intelligent controls, Automatic Rapid Transit is a rail-less system for urban transport, which is essentially a crossover between buses and trams. This kind of innovations provide more options for end-users and service providers and adds another dimension to Qatar’s plan to offer multimodal integrated public transport system.
Qatar has given a massive boost to public transport facilities recently by partially opening one of the Doha Metro lines. It is heartening to see hundreds of people using the metro services daily and thus proving the skeptics, who thought people will shy away from using public transport, wrong.
By providing a better and easier mode of transport to residents, the authorities not only managed to ease the traffic on busy roads by removing some cars from the road but also took a giant step in bettering the environment.
Doha Metro has become a big hit among residents as more than 86,000 people used the trains in the first two days after launch of its preview service. Once the other lines are also open, it will help people reach all parts of Qatar with ease, especially during the 2022 World Cup as the metro connects all the stadiums. By providing feeder buses at all stations, the ministry has taken care of last mile connectivity issue usually faced by metros around the world.
Like the metro, the trams being introduced in Lusail, Qatar Foundation and Msheireb Downtown Doha are also game changers when it comes to transport needs of Qatar. These trams will also play its role in easing the last mile connectivity and also help boost the sustainable development goals of these townships.
The tough part is selecting the right product which will perform seamlessly irrespective of weather conditions, is eco-friendly and economically viable. Doha Metro has delivered on all these parameters, let us hope the new Automatic Rapid Transit will add more value to the transport netwrok after the trails.
