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Under the auspices of HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of the Executive Council, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) will honour tomorrow (Monday) the winners of the 9th Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST). The Award has been initiated to sensitize community organizations to play an active role in sustainable transport and highlight the leading role of RTA in driving the partnership with various entities. It also aims at thrusting the issue of sustainable transport at the forefront of overriding issues to the business community and the local economy.
Mr. Bertrand Piccard, owner of the Solar Impulse Plane initiative will be the Guest of Honor and keynote speaker at the awards ceremony to be held at the Dubai World Trade Center.
HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA was delighted with the huge progress posted by the Award since launched in 2008, citing the ninth edition of DAST had seen a healthy 18% growth rate compared with the eighth edition. “Such an increase is indicative of the growing attention to the Award in the business community as well as the public & private sectors. It also signals the ongoing commitment of these entities to play an active role in broadening the scope of sustainable transport in the UAE and Dubai emirate in particular,” reported Al Tayer.
“DAST is viewed as a practical manifestation of RTA’s strategy geared towards enhancing its vision of providing Safe and Smooth Transport for All in keeping with the current upswing seen by the Emirate of Dubai spanning business, economic, tourist and real estate sectors among others,” he added.
Highlighting the procedures of the Award, Al Tayer said, “All accepted applications that fulfil the conditions of the Award were assessed by judges’ panel based on precise and detailed evaluation criteria as per pre-defined weights and grades for each of the main and sub-criteria in order to ensure accuracy, objectivity and justice to all applications under review. Submissions made have undergone an appraisal process starting with receiving of nominations, vetting & validation before the submission of final results.”
“Through the Higher Organizing Committee of DAST, RTA has improved the process of the award to keep pace with the massive improvement projects & initiatives rolled out by RTA. It has also broadened the scope of participation in the Award to enable the largest possible number of government and semi-government organizations as well as private companies to contribute to the improvement of sustainable transport drive in the UAE with RTA’s efforts in this regard,” added Al Tayer.
DAST categories consist of two main divisions: Main Categories and Special Categories. Main categories comprise four awards; the first is Mobility Management, which focuses on applied practices & initiatives that contribute to raising the efficiency of using various types of mass transit systems. The second is Mobility Safety, which is concerned with practices & initiatives that contribute to raising the security & safety levels of commuters of various transit means. The third is Environmental Conservation, which is devoted to any practice or initiative capable of reducing the negative impact of transit systems on the environment. The fourth is Disabled-Related Initiatives; which contribute directly or indirectly to easing the mobility of the disabled.
The special categories comprise four awards as well; the first is the Best Academic Research for academicians submitting the best research on sustainable transport. The second is the Best Student Project; which relates to the best student project in the field of sustainable transport across the UAE in the field of sustainable transport. The third is the Best Media Person; which targets members of media who made the best media coverage of sustainable transport nation-wide. The fourth award, which is launched with the ninth edition of DAST, is the Best Media Team; which aims at identifying the best media team that has made the best coverage of sustainable transport across the nation.
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