Dubai sees slight increase in 2017 public transport usage

Dubai saw a slight increase in users of public transport last year compared to 2016, according to the Roads and Transport Authority.

Ridership across the metro, tram, buses, marine transport and taxis was up nearly 1.5 per cent from 543.6 million in 2016 to 551.7 million in 2017 and averaged 1.511 million passengers a day.

The Dubai Metro accounted for 36 per cent of the total (up from 191.3 million to 200.075 million passengers), followed by taxis (175.6 million) with 32 per cent and buses with 28 per cent (up from 151.1 million to 155.032 million).

Usage of marine transport dipped slightly to 13.076 million passengers and the Dubai Tram carried 6.023 million passengers compared to 5.4 million in 2016.

The largest number of commuters was seen in March at 49.065 million, followed by December with 48.857 million.

In other months of the year the number of rider ranged from 40 million to 47 million.

The RTA said the share of public transport for overall mobility in the city increased from 6 per cent in 2006 to 17 per cent in 2017. The authority aims to increase this to 20 per cent by 2020 and 30 per cent by 2030.

“People have started to grasp the benefits associated with the use of mass transit means such as the physical relief, peace of mind, financial saving, high safety, and lower expenses of car usage in terms of fuel and maintenance among others,” said RTA director general and chairman Mattar Al Tayer.

“RTA plans are also focused on encouraging car-pooling especially in a city like Dubai where people ownership of private vehicles is as high as one vehicle per two persons.”

The authority has recently been experimenting with new ultra-fast and autonomous transport means in the city.

Last week it unveiled the first prototypes for hyperloop pods that could eventually transport passengers between Dubai and Abu Dhabi at speeds of up to 1,200kph

Read: Images: Dubai’s RTA unveils prototype of Hyperloop One

It also began trials for a new bus on demand service.

Read: Dubai trials bus on demand service