Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has released figures that show that over 90 million passengers have used its services in the first quarter of this year, with the tram seeing the highest reported rate of growth.
Metro – During the first quarter of 2017 the Dubai Metro transported 51.371 million passengers, a 3% increase from 49.9 million for the same period last year.
Tram – Dubai’s Tram recorded 1.6 million journeys compared to 1.3 million for the same period last year, a sizeable increase of around 20%.
Buses – Buses transported 38,616,365 riders during the first quarter of this year, compared with 37,654,468 riders from last year, which makes for an increase of 2.5%.
RTA’s director of buses Basel Saad Ibrahim said: “The RTA is working to complement the public transport network in the emirate to reduce the use of private vehicles, and to make mass transit the ideal mobility choice in Dubai.”
He also mentioned, “The share of public transport has grown from 6 per cent in 2006 to 15 per cent in 2015 and reached 24 per cent in 2016 with the taxicab share”.
Cars – Meanwhile, a new study shows that the cost of car insurance in UAE has risen by as much as 40% for some drivers since a new tariff system was implemented by the UAE Insurance Authority at the start of the year. The increase has seen some driver’s insurance bills increase by as much as Dhs1,691. Higher car insurance premiums could see more people opting to use public transport as a means of more affordable transport.
