Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has embarked on an ambitious plan to build 900 km of cycle paths in several residential communities across the city by 2020, said a report.

The RTA project is aimed at encouraging the cycling culture in the emirate and will cover major development areas including Al Mizhar, Mirdif, Al Warqa’a, Al Sufouh, Umm Suqeim, Jumeirah and Al Barsha, reported the Gulf News, citing a senior official.

The move to include cycling tracks in Dubai communities is a part of the Bicycle Master Plan launched in 2012, stated Naseer Abu Shehab, the chief executive of Strategy and Corporate Governance at RTA.

It will encourage more adults and children to cycle to and from work and school, he added.

The RTA, he stated, was planning to include more communities in future including those in the Bur Dubai area as well as Discovery Gardens, Al Furjan, Green Community Village and Dubai Investment Park.

Abu Shehab said RTA has already provided cycle parking racks at most metro stations and is continuing work to improve and add to the cycle infrastructure over the coming years.

While no completion date has been announced for the new cycle paths in residential communities, more than 70 per cent of the Dubai cycle track project has been completed, he added.