The discussion took place on 30 April this year at the Middle East Rail
Members of the panel included Hon. Mindaugas Tarnauskas, Deputy Minister of Transport, Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania,
H.E. Abdulla Al Marzouqi, Director General, Integrated Transport Centre of Abu Dhabi, and Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, Minister of Transportation, Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
They discussed the best ways to integrate smart systems into the transportation and mobility sectors.
Sarkaria said, “I think that [better transit systems] have been at the core of our growth strategy around building such a significant investment around public transit. So when we talked about US$70bn, not only are we supporting our sustainability goals, we're also supporting much needed investment in the sector that will help move people more efficiently and more productively.”
Smart transportation systems
“We'll be able to attract more investments from international companies to ensure that they are investing in places that provide that opportunity for many people. Right now we suffer about US$12mn loss due to gridlock every year in the GTA [Greater Toronto Area]. And so for us, that is the core of our movement towards more public transit investments and into that it will support more economic growth, but it also provides the added benefit of higher quality of life and more enjoyable cities.”
Tarnauskas said, “The Lithuanian transport and logistics service sector is one of the designated drivers in creating an economy. The growth in the transport sector is on three aspects: investment in infrastructure, and every year investing more than €1bn in the transport sector. Second thing is diversity. Monthly Report of flipping items in transition to become a hub not only for freight but also to marine engineering, industry and manufacturing or planning. And the third thing is our ambitions to establish an international 5G transport corridor on the Baltic motorway, which will be a basis for future self-driving cars and other smart road functions.”
Al Marzouqi said, “So we are looking now in Abu Dhabi to increase our network coverage by introducing wave mode of transport. For example, within Abu Dhabi we have launched a partnership to establish flying taxis. We are not saying that we need to capitalise in one month, but we want to make sure that we have a diversity of choice that could ensure that our visitors and people living in Abu Dhabi using this will be comfortable, have affordable transport, and we will ensure that systems are smart.”
