Dubai is heavily investing in the city’s transportation system, from commuter trains to highways. Dubai expects to solicit bids within eight months for road projects worth as much as AED4bn (USD1.1bn) as part of a bigger drive to upgrade transport links in the city, Mattar Al Tayer, director general and chairman of its Roads and Transport Authority, said in an interview. His comments followed the awarding on Wednesday of a AED10.6bn contract to extend the emirate’s metro-train system as Dubai prepares to host the 2020 World Expo. Al Mattar added that investing in infrastructure is one of the policies which the Dubai government has taken to steer the economy. A group led by Alstom of France and including Spain’s Acciona and Gulermak of Turkey won a contract to extend the metro network by 15 kms to the desert site of the 2020 Expo. The RTA has received AED1.5bn from the Dubai government to begin work on the extension, Al Tayer said. (Bloomberg)