Exploring the potential for successful public transport in Riyadh

• Main Author: Al-Dubikhi, Sami Abdullah
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2007
• Subjects: urban transportation; policy; transportation planning; Riyadh; Saudi Arabia; sami
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/37342

© 2007 Dr. Sami Abdullah Al-Dubikhi This thesis examines whether a successful public transport system is feasible in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and what policies are most likely to lead to the establishment and operation of a successful system, based on case studies of successful transit systems in cities that share Riyadh's high income and dispersed layout. The principal research objective for this study is to establish how successful Ottawa, Vancouver and Perth's transit systems have been and find out the overriding factors behind the success of the systems. This involves exploration of the following dimensions: urban form influence, transit network provision, best transit mode, and type of institutional arrangement. Ottawa, Vancouver and Perth have successfully introduced public transport systems into automobile-dominant communities. Ottawa is famous for its busway system, Vancouver is well known because of its development of the Skytrain (elevated LRT) and bus system, while Perth is renowned for its Northern Suburbs Rapid Transit System. An examination of Ottawa, Vancouver, and Perth suggests that advanced transit technology and transit-supportive land use patterns are not the factors critical to success. Instead, success is more closely related to: adoption of a 'transit-first' investment strategy; the use of intermodal integration to create a multi-destination network; and the creation of a single transit authority to integrate services. The thesis concludes that a successful public transport system is feasible in Riyadh despite its particular circumstances.