June 21, 2009 (WAM): Public Transport Agency at Roads and Transport Authority signed yesterday a MoU with Citi Bank Group that calls for Public Transport Agency to act as a consultant in assisting Citi Group with the introduction of a host of mass transit programs, where the Group will allocate buses to lift its employees from and to their residents. The Agreement was signed on behalf of RTA by the CEO of Public Transport Agency Essa Abdul Rahman Al Dossari and on behalf of Citi Group by the Senior Country Operations Officer of the Group Hassan Khalifa.

In a speech marking this occasion Al Dossari said: "Through signing this Agreement with Citi Group, Public Transport Agency is aiming to meet several objectives through conducting studies, researches and field surveys to identify the bottlenecks of mobility faced by the public, including employees, in their daily travels, and make coordinated efforts to figure out logical and effective solutions to these obstacles.

Al Dossari added: "Public Transport Agency and Citi Group will team up to develop joint mobility programs to provide mass transit services to Citi Bank employees and encourage them to use alternative modes of mobility other than private vehicles. Such exercise is set to reduce the number of single-rider vehicle used by employees back and forth their work places, and encourage them to switch to carpooling in their daily travels and accordingly boost the number of passengers per vehicle through advocating carpooling.

"Provision of private vehicles to commute employees from and to their work places will greatly reduce the number of private vehicles on Dubai Roads. We will look into how to ease the procedure of registering employee commuter buses of our strategic partners, and how to capitalize on Awselni service introduced by RTA to commute its employees.

''We will also organize the parking space adjacent to the work place in an effective manner that addresses the needs of companies as well coping with traffic congestion in the area resulting from the daily movement of employee and visitor vehicles. Public Transport Agency used to launch joint awareness campaigns with employees of companies and organizations to educate them on the impact of private vehicles mobility on the traffic congestion in general and the environment '&' community in particular" concluded Al Dossari.

For his part the Senior Country Operations Officer of Citi Bank Group Hassan Khalifa said: "City Bank Group is coordinating with government authorities to enhance the concept of sustainability and raise employees' awareness of the importance of mass transit in providing practical solutions of traffic congestion as well as its resulting psychological pressures that undermine the health and productivity of employees.

Khalifa added: "Through signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with RTA, Citi Group, represented by Citi Bank, aims to provide an encouraging environment for employees, and foster PR networks with various sectors '&' agencies to upgrade the level of service rendered in Dubai. The Agreement will also contribute to enhancing the profile of Dubai as a global and economic '&' commercial center, and an environment conducive to the implementation of sustainability concepts in all economic and living aspects in the emirate. Citi Bank's mission underscores the importance of offering the best business facilities in Dubai so that prosperity could span all aspects of life in the emirate, and the Agreement signed today is just an illustration of efforts made in this field".

According to the Agreement, both parties will seek to meet a number of objectives such as furthering the concept of sustained transport in Dubai, broadening the mobility options offered to employees, minimizing commuter travels of single-occupancy cars of employees to their work places, and enabling all employees to review mobility data (bus journey schedules, carpooling). The Agreement seeks to alleviate congestion during peak time at the locality of work places, cooperate to manage the demand for parking space, contribute to upgrading the level of awareness among employees of the importance of mobility management programs, and provide mutual benefit through defining the frame and perimeters of partnership relations between the two parties. It also seeks to sustain joint communication '&' interaction which will serve the interest of Dubai, hold seminars '&' joint workshops to serve the purposes of this Agreement, and exchange of knowledge '&' institutional expertise at all levels. The Agreement calls for the exchange of information and studies related to the business domain of both parties, and any other tasks agreed by both parties that contribute to serving the objectives and purposes of this Agreement.