Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the first report of the Urban Mobility Innovation Index (UMii) that features 30 global cities including London, New York, Munich, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Dubai. The report was approved by the Board of International Association for Public Transport.

Dubai’s participation in the Index is in line with the Dubai Innovation Strategy, which includes about 20 initiatives to be implemented over three years with the aim of making Dubai the most innovative city in the world. Transport is one of the key pillars of the Strategy.

The report outlines mechanisms to calculate the index of innovation in urban mobility and the results of cities in the components of the index, along with the most practical recommendations that can be applied by cities to implement innovative solutions in the development of the transport system.

The report also features the Innovation Wheel in urban mobility, which focuses on engaging stakeholders in the development and implementation of transport plans. It also focuses on analysing the source of mobility challenges and providing innovative solutions as well as benefiting from the large data, and the potential of the community. It aims to promote flexibility in policies and legislation to keep pace with rapid developments in the sector.

The benchmark criteria of the Index were determined by conducting standard comparisons at the level of transportation authorities around the world, and identifying areas of innovation in this sector. The pilot version of the Index was applied in five major cities, London, Helsinki, Singapore, Sao Paulo and Dubai in 2016.

Mattar Al Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), said that International Association of Public Transport (UITP) selected Dubai to launch the first report of UMii. The Index was also applied in Dubai. Results of the Index in Dubai showed that the city is very advanced in this domain. He also said that Dubai executes mobility projects with high efficiency and proficiency, and always focuses on the integration of the transport system.

UMii aims to provide insights into urban mobility and innovation in cities across the world, and deliver a guide for cities to foster innovation in their urban mobility services and systems. Data is collected globally from cities invited to participate in the index. UITP will collect the data of the participating cities every three years. Five new cities will be added each year to the Index.