Alain Flausch: championing the cause of public transport across the world.

By Ramesh Mathew
Staff Reporter

A big change is necessary in the mindset of the region's residents, particularly its citizens, for developing the public transport sector, said Alain Flausch, Secretary General of the UITP.

UITP is generally referred to as the single largest organisation representing the public transport sector at the global level.

Speaking to Gulf Times on the sidelines of the UITP MIddle East and North African Region Summit, which concluded on Thursday, Flausch called upon the region's authorities to promote the use of public transport among residents in a bid to prevent noise and pollution, resulting in more savings in economy.

"Lesser number of vehicles on the roads means obviously lesser traffic congestion on the roads and less traffic means smooth movement of vehicles," said the Brussels-based official, whose contributions to promote public transport has been widely acknowledged at the global level.

While calling upon the region's governments to facilitate the environment for the continuous growth of the sector, Flausch said it was high time the authorities bore in mind that in developed countries a large segment of the population was able to regularly use one mode of public transport, especially during the peak hours, instead of relying on single-occupancy vehicles for their travels.

Lamenting that the proliferation of single-occupancy vehicles during peak hours was causing traffic snarls on the region's roads, especially in Qatar, Flausch said authorities should explore ways to promote a healthy environment where there were less vehicles on the roads, especially during the office hours.

"What I have understood from my visits across the region is that a considerably large number of people here still feel that possessing a personal car is a symbol of one's personal pride. Possessing a car is not a crime but excessive reliance on own vehicle is causing damage not only to the environment but is also a big economic drain to individuals,” he said.

“This kind of attitude and thinking on possessing vehicles and overusing them is causing considerable harm not only to the growth of the public transport but is also harming the environment," said Flausch while complimenting the efforts of Qatar Transport Minister HE Jassem Seif Ahmed al-Sulaiti for the interest he has shown to promote the UITP's "Grow with Public Transport" campaign in the country.

Flausch also hailed his statement at the inaugural ceremony in which the minister announced the introduction of 2,000 public transport buses on the country's roads by 2020.

The top UITP official feels a perceivable change is happening among the residents of the UAE after the implementation of the Metro rail. "Unlike a few years ago, a large number of the Emirates residents are now using the public transport, especially Metro, for their daily travels. And it is really heartening to hear that there has been a steady rise in the number of passengers on the Metro."

Flausch hoped that Qatar residents would also turn to Metro in a big way when some of the lines open five years from now.

The public transport leader, who leads an apex body of more than 3,400 forums all over the world, feels Qatar should explore ways to promote the use of public transport as many large-scale construction activities, especially roads, are happening in the country.

The authorities should consider introducing incentives for public transport users as is being done in Dubai and other major world capitals, he said.

When incentives come, people are likely to show more response, he hoped. He also felt the local language media needs to address the issue of public transport as there is considerably lesser awareness of the issue among the region's population.

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