Mattar Al Tayer announces the start of implementation of the “Dubai Loop” project within two years, at a cost of 2.5 billion dirhams

The Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai, Mattar Al Tayer, announced the start of implementation of the “Dubai Loop” project, and it is expected to cover 24 kilometers in the emirate and serve the financial and commercial areas and the Dubai Mall.
He said during a session entitled “Creating the Future of Mobility in Cities” at the World Government Summit 2026 that the first phase of the project will begin immediately at a cost estimated at approximately 600 million dirhams, within the total cost of the project amounting to 2.5 billion dirhams, with implementation to be completed within approximately one to two years.
Al Tayer explained that the project will transport about 13,000 passengers daily, stressing that Dubai is the second city after California to implement this type of project.
He reviewed future transportation projects, including “air taxis” and “self-driving vehicles,” stressing that 80% of the air taxi project has been completed and is currently being prepared and ready to launch the service by the end of this year, adding that self-driving vehicles will be launched in the first quarter of this year with 100 vehicles, and will gradually expand to include 1,000 vehicles, with a focus on carefully selecting partnerships according to standards of safety, technical quality, operational readiness, and data governance.
Al Tayer pointed out that the next stage that cities are going through can be described as “acceleration,” explaining that this acceleration includes three main axes, which include (growth, technology, and people’s expectations).
He added that more than 55% of the world’s population lives in cities, and that this percentage will rise to 70% by 2050.
He stated that the growth rate of Dubai’s population is 7% compared to the global growth of 2%, pointing out that the population in Dubai is 6 million people, and during the past year 2025, Dubai received about 17 million tourists, an increase of 5% over the year 2024.
Al Tayer touched on economic and social indicators, noting that the number of luxury cars registered in Dubai has reached 170,000 cars, and that the cumulative value of the distinctive numbers during the last five years has reached one billion and 700 million dirhams, which is the greatest evidence that Dubai attracts wealthy people and major investors to live there.
Al Tayer stressed that the next stage will be mainly led by the partnership between the public and private sectors, pointing to the issuance of the law regulating the partnership between the two sectors, which defines the regulatory framework between the public and private sectors.
He explained that during the past three to four years, the Roads and Transport Authority established 4 successful companies with a value of approximately 80 billion dirhams, namely: “Salik”, “Parkin”, “Medea”, and “Dubai Taxi”, adding that the transfer of services to private sector companies contributed to significantly improving the quality of services.
Al Tayer mentioned that the Authority had signed agreements with international companies to organize electronic reservations and reduce the waiting time for flights from 25 minutes to 3 minutes, stressing that these partnerships contributed to transforming Dubai from a vehicle-based city to a human-focused city.
He explained that international companies chose Dubai for three main reasons: clarity of vision, speed of decision-making, and leadership support.
Al Tayer discussed the Dubai government’s investments in infrastructure, explaining that the government invested about 175 billion dirhams over 20 years, which contributed to saving 319 billion dirhams in the cost of time and effort, in addition to 156 billion dirhams in gross domestic product, and 32 billion dirhams in investments in the services, logistical support and distribution sector. He also pointed out the decrease in traffic accidents from 220 to 1.8 per 100,000 population over the past years.
Al Tayer stressed the importance of the experiment as a first stage before operation and organization, pointing to four basic criteria to ensure the success of any project: technical readiness, organizational readiness, operational readiness, and safety standards, stressing that any error may lead to the project stopping.
Al Tayer referred to the smart control centers in Dubai, explaining that there are two traffic signal control centers that can be compared to the centers in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo, at a cost of one billion and 600 million dirhams, with an additional 500 million allocated for expansion during the next three years, pointing out that 60% of the traffic signals are currently linked to the center and during the coming years, all signals will be linked to the control centers.

Mattar Al Tayer sent messages to the summit participants, stressing that Dubai does not wait for technology, but rather creates the environment in which it succeeds, and that the World Government Summit is a platform for launching the most important strategic projects, calling on everyone to send their ideas and initiatives to the authority with the aim of improving people’s quality of life and facilitating their lives.