Abstract
The transport system is one of the most crucial systems of the social structure of cities. The efficiency of its functioning determines the productivity of numerous segments of life in the region, including economic growth and social improvement. The recent economic growth in Dubai has triggered a transition to smart transportation. However, the present rate of improvement is still insufficient for the satisfaction of the growing demand exhibited by Dubai citizens. The following paper provides a set of organizational and technical recommendations for the Dubai Government that are expected to create healthy work by merging happiness with transportation and establishing punch marks in transportation between Dubai and other countries using smart transport principles.
Introduction
It is worth noting that the transport system is one of the most crucial systems of the social structure of cities. Urban transport is an industry that is responsible for the life-support of the city; the way of living of the population, as well as their satisfaction in general, depends on the success of its functioning (Bazzan & Klügl 2014). For the past years, the socio-economic life of the population has changed. The growth in the number of citizens and residents has led to the fact that Dubai has become overflown with vehicles, which causes congestion, environmental pollution, and affects the well-being of people.
Many residents prefer to use public transport as it allows them to work during traveling. Nevertheless, the development of transport infrastructure in Dubai does not meet the growing needs of the population for high mobility, which inevitably affects other sectors and results in the emergence of social and economic issues. It should be stressed that Dubai is a city with a visible manifestation of transport problems.
Employees from other cities are forced to travel for several hours to get to their workplace in Dubai, which also affects their productivity among other factors. In general, the functioning of transport and the possibilities of the infrastructure determine the potential of the city, affect the formation of economic activity, and affect the happiness of people. At present, the priority task of the city administration is the introduction of smart transport to address the current problems. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the potential of smart transportation in meeting future expectations and needs of Dubai citizens.
Literature Review
It is necessary to define the concept of smart transport in the aspect of infrastructure development. This concept is based on an intellectual approach to the development of the transport system, which assumes the maximum efficiency of operational management of transport means and the response to the current situation in real-time (Bazzan & Klügl 2014). Therefore, smart transport implies the introduction of a functional and understandable interface for all users. Besides, great importance is attributed to the public transport system since a high percentage of the urban population uses this service, and public transport is one of the major participants in traffic.
The essential aspects of the functioning of the approach are the integration of navigation and information systems in such a way so that they have a single and unified structure (Kurauchi 2016). The presence of a uniform interface allows combining many services and implement such solutions as situational traffic management centers and route planning (Bazzan & Klügl 2014). Also, the planning of public transport is becoming more convenient as well as the development of vehicle identification and geographic positioning. Experts in the industry note that this approach to planning and managing the infrastructure makes it possible to turn the traffic system in a safer environment for its participants.
Nevertheless, the further development of technology in this area requires additional equipping of vehicles. Recent researches in the field have indicated that the issue of road traffic control is the most acute and complex due to the constant growth of traffic flows as a result of urbanization and greater accessibility of private cars. In this regard, it is necessary to search for such smart solutions that will affect the organization of traffic both in the city and outside of it (Kurauchi 2016).
At present, a single network of sensors has been developed that will regulate the functioning of the city’s basic life support systems. Besides, this system can monitor the movement of vehicles and equips control centers with the necessary information regarding visual and statistical data (Bazzan & Klügl 2014). This allows the engaged parties to comprehend the current situation and quickly respond to the ongoing events. Also, a unified system assumes that the residents of Dubai and its visitors will have access to various services, which will speed up the resolution of problems and enable them to move more conveniently.
From all residents, contamination of the environment due to traffic jams, and an increase in the number of vehicles is also a major problem. As a result of prolonged traffic congestion and intense traffic, excessive amounts of emissions of exhaust gases are released into the atmosphere, which strongly influences the quality of air. Intense traffic must account for more than half of all harmful emissions to the environment; hence, the transport system is the main source of atmospheric pollution. However, the number of harmful substances depends on the technical state of the engine and the level of emission of highly toxic lead compounds. These problems can be solved by replacing leaded gasoline with unleaded one.
Research Methods
Considering the information obtained from the literature review, the following research hypothesis is formulated: How smart transportation can meet future expectations and needs of Dubai citizens? Two areas of inquiry can be identified as pertinent to the hypothesis. First, it is necessary to explore how happiness can be merged with transportation. In other words, the study would determine the areas and components of smart transportation which display the greatest potential for increasing customer satisfaction rate and otherwise contribute to the overall quality of life of Dubai residents. Second, it would be beneficial to identify punch marks in transportation – that is, locate the areas where smart transportation principles are the most useful in establishing the connection between Dubai and other countries.
Therefore, the research method chosen for the paper is a qualitative study in the form of a descriptive systematic review. The study is based on the secondary data obtained from reputable sources including academic journals, scholarly articles, and web resources of organizations officially responsible for transportation in Dubai, such as the Roads and Transport Authority. Such a method is relevant to the chosen topic for several reasons.
First, smart transportation is a relatively novel area and has not yet been thoroughly studied. As a result, numerous allegations remain unconfirmed by scientific findings while others likely remain undetected or ignored by the academic community. Thus, the exploratory nature of the study provides the possibility of identifying the perspective issues and adding to the current understanding of the phenomenon and its effects. Second, few people currently possess sufficient knowledge of the areas responsible for customer satisfaction, which places the retrieved primary data in the speculative category, thus decreasing its value. Third, a systematic qualitative review of literature requires much less time and resources for data analysis compared to primary data collection and/or quantitative analysis. While this also results in the decreased reliability of the findings, such compromise is acceptable considering the scope and preliminary nature of the project.
Result
The review of the relevant literature on the topic revealed several key points. First, some of the segments of transportation are subject to the observable segmentation of the audience. Most prominently, the public transportation networks are often used by the population segments with lower income, which compromises the reputation of the service and discourages other segments of the population from using the service (Shaaban & Khalil 2013). For the same reason, it is used more by the expatriates than by the local residents, which has a detrimental effect on the cost-efficiency of the system as well as on the level of happiness perceived by the customers who choose to use the service (Shaaban & Khalil 2013).
Another issue that could be derived from the secondary data is the potential offered by the smart transportation data in terms of improved cost-efficiency. For instance, the fleet telematics approach increases the safety of transportation fleet coordination and organization while at the same time decreasing the consumption of resources and alleviating the traffic congestion (Red Hat 2016). The system can be applied both to the intra-city and inter-city travel, as was successfully demonstrated in the paper published by Red Hat (2016).
Next, the planning and management of trips are becoming more relevant as more elements of smart transportation are incorporated into the system. The possibility to integrate the information on the synchronization of activities both before and after the trip adds value to the perception of the service and fulfill the expectation of the users with the standards set by the rapid development of the customer-oriented smart technologies (Railway Technology 2016).
Finally, the collaboration of service providers within the transportation department is both necessary and beneficial for the efficient functioning of the system as well as for the happiness experienced by the customers. The structural and organizational changes resulting from the transition towards smart-driven operation result in a decentralization of the service delivery points (Railway Technology 2016). Thus, the employees of the service are more strongly associated with the organization regardless of their area of competence, which can be the cause for concern or a source of opportunity depending on the approach.
Discussion
It is important to note that some of the identified issues are partially implemented in Dubai while others are yet to be recognized as viable moves. For instance, the public transportation system in Dubai has seen significant advances in the latest decade to adjust for the demand driven by the region’s rapid economic development. Most of the transportation systems have been equipped with smart cards allowing for the seamless fare collection, with the ongoing proof-of-concept initiative to introduce an even more advanced system that would eliminate the need for cards entirely (Roads & Transport Authority 2017).
The customers are also able to plan their trip online using a website or access the service directly through the official smartphone app provided by the RTA (Roads & Transport Authority 2017). However, the current proportion of public transportation usage in the region remains low, with the current estimates at 15% and a planned increase to 30% in 2030 stated by the RTA (Roads & Transport Authority 2017).
Such a twofold increase, however, is still relatively modest in comparison to the respective rates in the U.S. and Europe, where they normally exceed 50%. Therefore, the highlighted issue of insufficient usage of the system can be considered equally relevant, and the similarities in socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds among the areas suggest at least partial relevance of the reputation as an important determinant of customer satisfaction (Shaaban & Khalil 2013).
On the other hand, at least two issues are either unaddressed in Dubai, or their implementation is not covered in the official sources. First, the introduction of the passenger counters in combination with the data processing devices could redistribute the load more efficiently, eliminate unnecessary waste of resources, and redirect the vehicles where they are needed the most. Such allocation would not only boost the efficiency of the existing intra-city transportation but also provide the possibility of establishing punch marks in transportation between Dubai and other countries.
More specifically, the said optimization is expected to decrease the costs of infrastructural updates (since it does not require major inventory purchases) as well as the construction of new ones using the existing data (by estimating the most probable load of each route and thus avoid further adjustments). The second issue is the skill distribution of the transportation segment employees: the declining reliance on dedicated information and service structures creates a situation where an employee can be approached by the customer with an inquiry (Railway Technology 2016). Thus, cross-skill training not only increases the happiness of the customers receiving the sought information but also improves the overall efficiency of the system (through reduction of misdirected and lost passengers, better utilization of smart transportation capacities, and, as a result, increased punch marks in transportation between Dubai and other countries).
Conclusion
In the recent decade, Dubai has demonstrated significant improvements in the area of transportation, including the introduction of numerous smart transportation elements (Roads & Transport Authority 2017). Unfortunately, the current improvement rate remains insufficient for the growing demand posed by socioeconomic growth exhibited by the region. It is thus necessary to introduce several modifications that would allow meeting future expectations of the Dubai citizens.
Namely, the increased level of customer involvement through interactive and approachable trip management is expected to address the existing bad reputation of the public transportation system, merging the happiness with transportation, while the skill redistribution among employees and more efficient fleet coordination through telematics would provide the possibility of punch marks in transportation between Dubai and other countries. Since the findings are based on the results demonstrated in different countries, additional verification would be necessary before the suggestions are implemented in practice.
Reference List
Bazzan, A &Klügl, F 2014, Introduction to intelligent systems in traffic and transportation, Morgan & Claypool Publishers, San Rafael, CA. Web.
Kurauchi, F 2016, Public transport planning with smart card data, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL. Web.
Railway Technology 2016, Customer service in the age of smart rail technologies. Web.
Red Hat 2016, Smart transportation applications in the internet of things. Web.
Roads & Transport Authority 2017, Government of Dubai, Dubai. Web.
Shaaban, K & Khalil, R F 2013, ‘Investigating the customer satisfaction of the bus service in Qatar’, Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, vol. 104, pp. 865-874. Web.