Skip to main content

Royal HaskoningDHV scoops public transport project

A joint venture comprising Dutch consultancy and engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV and Saudi Arabian Mshari Al-Shathri engineering consultant has been appointed by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Transport to prepare a feasibility study and preliminary design for a first public transport system for Dammam. The objective of the system is to alleviate congestion in the area, which has seen significant growth in recent years. Increasing use of private cars has led to congestion and at current growth rates,
July 26, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
A joint venture comprising Dutch consultancy and engineering company 6132 Royal HaskoningDHV and Saudi Arabian Mshari Al-Shathri engineering consultant has been appointed by the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Transport to prepare a feasibility study and preliminary design for a first public transport system for Dammam.

The objective of the system is to alleviate congestion in the area, which has seen significant growth in recent years.  Increasing use of private cars has led to congestion and at current growth rates, experts are forecasting gridlock across the Dammam urban road network within a few years.
 
The project entails a feasibility study and preliminary design for a combination of 50 km of light rail, 110 km of bus rapid transit system and 350 km of feeder buses in Dammam Metropolitan Area, including King Fahd International Airport.  The approach will be multidisciplinary and include public transport planning, infrastructure design, urban integration, operation planning, business case preparation, and procurement strategy.

Undersecretary for Transport Affairs, Dr Abdul Aziz Al-Ohaly said: “In order to improve mobility and to alleviate urban congestion, reduce noise and air pollution we realise that we need to encourage people to use public transport.”

Nils den Hartog, project manager for Royal HaskoningDHV said: “Public transport is currently almost non-existent in this car-dominated city where petrol costs no more than 15 cents per litre. A key challenge of this project will be the successful introduction of such a system.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Vaisala: Weather data is vital for connected vehicles
    August 26, 2016
    Vaisala’s Dr Kevin Petty explains why the weather will continue to play a big part in road safety and traffic management in the smart cities of the future. The world is becoming increasingly connected. Thanks to advances in information and communications technology, the cities we live in are becoming ‘smart’, with everything from education to law enforcement managed by integrated tech solutions in a bid to improve quality of life.
  • Integrated transport network proposed for Montréal
    April 25, 2016
    DPQ Infra, a subsidiary of Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, has unveiled for its Réseau électrique métropolitain (REM), an integrated public transportation project. Under the proposal, the REM will link downtown Montréal, the South Shore, the West Island (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue), the North Shore (Deux-Montagnes) and the airport in a unified, fully automated, 67km light rail transit (LRT) system comprising 24 stations and operating 20 hours a day, 7 days a week. The solution proposed by CDPQ Infra wi
  • Road data role for Sydney buses
    July 22, 2022
    Asset AI scheme sees 32 public transport buses equipped with a camera and sensor
  • Demand management schemes, is there a better way?
    January 31, 2012
    The European Commission is placing too much emphasis on the use of demand management, according to the FIA. Here, Wil Botman, Director-General of the FIA's European Bureau, explains why. Towards the end of last year, the European Bureau of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) released a statement which criticised the European Commission's (EC's) approach to urban traffic congestion following the adoption of the Action Plan on Urban Mobility. In particular, the FIA voiced concerns over what it