I spent last week traveling to Dubai to speak at Gulf Traffic, a trade event covering parking and traffic and focused on the Middle East, particularly the UAE and Saudi Arabia markets.
This is not a particularly large event, with NPA, IPMI, and PIE events having more exhibits and attendees, however it does bring a focus to traffic and parking to this vibrant and emerging region.
Dubai can best be described as an uber-modern city that has grown out of the sand. It has the best that money can buy with high rises soaring, some to incredible heights. Architecture is stunning, and hotels and recreation areas rival any on the planet.
And with all this growth, parking and transportation have become major headaches for the city’s government and planners. This is also true in Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Riyadh, Bahrain, Medina, Kuwait, Cairo, and other major cities in the area.
Gulf Traffic offers these communities the opportunity to see the most up to date technology and also hear discussions about how their parking and transportation issues are being attacked in other area around the world. Speakers from Europe, Asia, the US, and Canada as well as from local municipalities held forth on different aspects of the parking and mobility industries.
It was an honor to be asked to speak to this group. I hope my bon mots on MaaS and how it can grow into a program to cover both parking and transportation was of some interest to those assembled.
JVH
