SAUDI ARABIA: The Royal Commission for AlUla has awarded France’s RATP Dev a ’360 Mobility’ contract covering the development and implementation of a comprehensive transport strategy to support tourism.
RATP Dev will support RCU in developing plans, policies, governance and infrastructure. This will include the ‘experiential’ tramway inspired by the historic Hedjaz Railway which is planned to connect AlUla with the Hegra UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as around 200 electric buses, e-bikes and e-scooters, autonomous pods for first and last-mile connections which RATP Dev launched last year, and mobility-as-a-service apps and tariffs.
The contract was signed on December 22, building on a memorandum of understanding signed in December 2021.
‘RCU is responsibly and sustainably regenerating the cultural and natural landscape of AlUla, enhancing quality of life and creating a global, sustainable destination that is empathetic to the environment, history, culture and people’, said Moataz Kurdi, RCU’s Chief County Operations Officer. ‘This new agreement with RATP Dev serves those goals by protecting our past, safeguarding our present and securing our future.’
