Planning of National Transport Infrastructure
In the Islamic Countries
123
The Lusail Light Rail Transit will work to connect Qatar’s key areas with each other and with
their extensions, it consists of 28 tramway vehicles and 37 stations, 24 of them are on ground
level, 10 undergrounds, one located on the bridge level and two connecting two high-rises. The
structural works for the tunnels, ancillary structures and underground stations are almost
completed and the LRT yellow line is expected to start being operative in January 2019. The
Lusail Light Rail Transit is composed of four lines for an overall length of 33.1 km, 10.4 km
underground and 22.7 at ground level and elevated.
The Hamad Port is creating a new world-class commercial port in Qatar, making it the world’s
largest “greenfield” port-development project. Comprising a port, a base for the Qatari Emiri
Naval Forces and a canal for the planned Qatar Economic Zone 3, the project will span a 26.5-
square-kilometer area. The port will act as a catalyst for the country’s trading industry, better
positioning Qatar to benefit from the expected regional growth in container and vehicle carrier
traffic as well as general cargo traffic.
The Qatari NTI plans also embed regulatory measures: pricing of parking in congested areas,
discouraging car ownership and use of cars and infrastructure are being considered. In the
central business districts parking management has been introduced. MoTC is studying pricing
and accessibility regulations in view of constraining the use of private cars in central business
district, constraining trucks usage for certain routes during certain hours, and promoting
advanced public transport fare ticketing system and contracts. The legislative amendments
include enforcement proposals and the organizational changes include introducing new
authorities for managing specific transportation aspects and facilities, e.g. parking authority and
road tolling unit. In fact, NTI plans cover projections and measures on the pricing of transport
infrastructure in the NTI plans scenarios through the mentioned road tolling, but also
congestion area charging, parking pricing and indirectly thorough fuel costs and vehicle
ownership costs. The content of the NTI plan is typical of that of most oil wealthy countries to
build transport infrastructure for the future generations. It is premised on the classical wisdom
that more transport is needed as the economy grows, but as mentioned at the outset, such
thinking is being questioned. Decoupling of transport and energy from economic growth would
provide more sustainable solutions.
3.5.6. Data Collection Method
In Qatar developments have a strong rational and quantified character. Surveys play a key role.
The Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics Surveys is responsible for data collection.
Some specific data are delegated to specific ministries, i.e. the Ministry of Transport and
Communications prepares the National Transportation Surveys, supported and approved by the
Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics Surveys. With respect to the preparation of NTI
plans, the MOTC uses the latest technology in conducting all kinds of surveys to collect data such
as the Manual Classified Count (MCC), the Household Interview surveys (HI), the Roadside
Interview (RSI), the Automatic Traffic Counts (ATC), the Public Transport OD surveys (PTI) and
the Public Transport Counts (PTC) to update the transport master plan for Qatar.
The analysis and elaboration of these data collected has led to the development of an integrated
database and a traffic model (TMPQ), using VISEM (VISEVA-W for freight) and VISUM, from
which projects can be assessed and traffic impact studies can be done (Ministry of Transport
and Communications, 2018). The transport modelling comprises the development of an