The Ministry of Transport’s Qatar Activity-Based Transport Model (QABM) has won first place in the Innovation Category of the Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST).

The DAST award recognized QABM’s excellence as an innovative national tool supporting strategic transportation planning and evidence-based, data-driven decision making.

The award was received by the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport H.E. Mohammed Abdullah Al-Maadeed, at the award ceremony held today under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai. The event was also attended by several CEOs from the transportation industry from the MENA region.

This achievement reinforces Qatar’s position in developing innovative, data-driven transportation solutions. It also supports the MOT’s efforts to build an integrated, sustainable and resilient transportation ecosystem that improves the quality of life, enhances the efficiency of infrastructure investment, and responds to Qatar’s future growth and development requirements.

“This achievement also recognizes the Ministry’s efforts to develop an advanced national transportation modelling system. QABM simulates people’s daily activities and travel patterns, analyzes transportation demand, assesses network performance, and tests the potential impacts of future projects and policies before implementation. This supports more efficient planning and investment across Qatar’s transportation system,” said MOT’s Assistant Undersecretary for Land Transport Affairs Eng. Abdullah Saif Al-Sulaiti.

Winning first place, he added, “reflects MOT’s Land Transport Affairs’ commitment to advancing innovation in transportation and using evidence and data to support decision-making based on systematic analysis and demonstrates the MOT’s commitment to developing advanced planning tools that enhance the efficiency of the transportation system and strengthen the integration of strategic and operational planning.”

Eng. Al-Sulaiti noted that this direction supports the objectives of the 3rd Qatar National Development Strategy, particularly its ambitions for leadership in digital government and the development of Government Excellence and the advancement of the model will not stop at this stage; it will serve as a foundation for automating the use of big and real-time data and for the continuous updating and improvement of the model through AI and digital-twin technologies.

This direction, Al-Sulaiti said, “supports the objectives of the 3rd Qatar National Development Strategy, particularly its ambitions for leadership in digital government and the development of Government Excellence. The advancement of the model will not stop at this stage; it will serve as a foundation for automating the use of big and real-time data and for the continuous updating and improvement of the model through AI and digital-twin technologies.”

Eng. Al-Sulaiti explained that the future development program aims to expand the model’s user base to include both planning and operational entities. It will also progressively advance the model from a long-term strategic planning tool into an integrated platform that supports operational planning, traffic analysis, and transportation and mobility planning for major events.

Eng. Al-Sulaiti explained that the future development program aims to expand the model’s user base to include both planning and operational entities. It will also progressively advance the model from a long-term strategic planning tool into an integrated platform that supports operational planning, traffic analysis, and transportation and mobility planning for major events, he said.

The model enables the assessment of a wide range of transportation scenarios and policies, including public transportation network development, parking management, Park & Ride services, transportation demand management, and the integration of land-use and transportation planning. It also supports the assessment of the anticipated impacts of infrastructure projects and different transportation policies.

The Ministry has also developed the Qatar Transportation Model Visualizer (QTMV), a secure and interactive digital platform that presents transport model data, maps and network performance indicators. The platform facilitates access to model outputs for planners, engineers, decision-makers and government entities, enabling them to use the information in relevant studies, plans and projects.

Representing a significant shift compared to traditional trip-based mobility models, the QABM simulates the daily activities and travel patterns of people, taking into account when, where, for how long, and with whom activities are carried out, as well as the mode of transport used to reach them. Furthermore, the model accounts for the interdependencies between the daily travel decisions of individuals and their households, ensuring that no single trip is treated separately from other activities and trips.

The QABM includes a detailed simulation of Qatar’s transportation networks, encompassing over 182,000 road segments and nearly 65,000 intersections, in addition to public transport networks and services.

The Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport (DAST) is a premier regional initiative launched in 2008 by Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It recognizes and honors outstanding contributions from government bodies, semi-government entities, private companies, research centers, universities, and schools that advance sustainable mobility and green infrastructure.