By Peter Alagos/Business Reporter
The Qatar Rail project would help stimulate opportunities for the development of rural areas outside Doha, which former US transportation secretary Rodney Slater described as a “premier megacity.”
Slater noted that Qatar’s $40bn investment on the Doha Metro, Lusail light rail project, and a high-speed long-distance line is a key solution to address Doha’s rapid urbanisation and population growth.
“Urbanisation is occurring all over the world … and so you have these megacities that are developing, and that’s where you need more investments in transit,” Slater told Gulf Times on the sidelines of the Distinguished Speaker Series hosted by the American Chamber of
Commerce in Qatar yesterday.
He also noted that the railway project addresses traffic woes and population growth. The former transportation official said the government should consider mixed-use development when building future
communities.
“This minimises road congestion because people don’t have to leave their communities if they have everything there,”
he said.
To decongest major thoroughfares, Slater also suggested the development of facilities for bicycles, scooters, water taxis, and even the use of maglev (magnetic levitation) technology for high-speed railways.
“Traffic would be a top issue for a megacity like Doha, which is why regulating speed is critical as well as the use of safety belts, installation of airbags, and crash avoidance technology. Safety is the most important traffic issue to address,” he said.
He also warned that there would be more cars that would be manufactured and sold in the next 10 years than the total number of vehicles sold in the last 100 years.
Slater also dispelled the risks of Qatar’s massive infrastructure projects ending up like “white elephants” after the staging of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. “Not if they’re built properly with some foresight for your city beyond 2022 … And what you want to do is think about them so that they have a utility beyond
the given event.”
“The World Cup is just giving you the stimulus for investment to galvanise the public sector to do it. But you’ve already decided that this is what a megacity or a global city should look like that is why Qatar is making investments, and 2022 is just a part of it,” he explained.
As part of his visit to Doha, Slater said he will be meeting with corporate and government officials to discuss investment opportunities for both Qatar and the US, including trophy projects and prospects for public-private partnerships (PPPs).
He said aside from transportation and infrastructure, innovation and technology are areas that both countries could explore for future investment and PPP opportunities.
“Mobility and smartphone technology is the connection of today’s younger generation. And so investing in the grid are important investment opportunities for the US and Qatar,” he said.
US ex-transportation secretary Rodney Slater addressing an event yesterday.
