Sheikh Hamdan inaugurates new generation of bus stations in Dubai

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, has inaugurated a set of new generation public bus stations at the Al-Ghubaiba Bus Station.

The bus stations are integrated with multi mass transit means including the metro, marine transport and taxis, official news agency WAM reported.

Sheikh Hamdan also reviewed the e-scooter service as well as initiatives of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), to improve public bus services, bus stations to serve Expo 2020 visitors and initiatives focused on flexible mobility and shared transport.

The Crown Prince inspected the indicators and operational results across the public bus network, comprising of 1,758 buses, 21 stations, and 167 routes serving 157 million riders per annum.

The Al-Ghubaiba station, which spans an area of 2,452 square metres, hosts office spaces, customer service areas, retail outlets and restaurants in addition to 50 slots for buses and 48 slots for vehicles.

It also has a stand for 34 taxis and 60 docking stations for bicycles, while the station can handle up to 15,000 passengers per day.

Expo 2020 visitors
Sheikh Hamdan examined RTA’s plan for upgrading a number of bus stations to better serve Expo 2020 visitors. The plan entails construction works at 17 stations/stops in places like Al-Ghubaiba, Al Jafiliya and the Union Stations and the bus station serving Etisalat Metro Station.

The RTA plan also covers the deployment of 614 buses and the opening of 23 bus routes and six temporary stops – located in Dubai Silicon Oasis, International City, Dubai Maritime City, Palm Jumeirah, Business Bay 1, and Al-Meydan – for serving Expo visitors.

Sheikh Hamdan reviewed an initiative to support youth projects by virtue of which RTA will offer two free spaces to small enterprises managed by UAE nationals in collaboration with Mohammed bin Rashid Establishment for SME Development.

Flexible mobility
Sheikh Hamdan was also briefed about the Mobility Hub model that offers public transport, logistics, cycling facilities and vehicles support services.

It encompasses multiple modes of transit means that include shared bikes and vehicles, scooters, buses on-demand, autonomous transport and individual mobility means.

The Crown Prince was also apprised of RTA’s initiatives to promote transport pooling to ease the movement of riders, which included the establishment of Hala ride-hailing, a joint venture with Careem, whose app currently has 5,500 registered vehicles.

Other initiatives include the Careem Bike service that has about 780 bikes offered at 78 docking stations in the initial phase, and a smart car rental initiative with 400 registered vehicles deployed by Udrive and Ekar companies.

E-Scooter project
The trial run of the e-scooter project will start next week with five operators that include three international companies (Careem, Lime, and Tier) and two local firms (Arnab and Skurrt) supported by Dubai SMEs.

RTA will also start the trial-run of scooters in five zones: Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, Dubai Internet City, 2nd of December St, Al-Rigga and Jumeirah Lake Towers.

Cycling tracks
Sheikh Hamdan reviewed RTA’s Cycling Tracks Plan 2021, which encompasses the construction of cycling lanes extending 88 km across eight districts.

Priority has been given to the construction of tracks in three districts, extending a total of 31 km.

“Until the commencement of 2020, RTA constructed cycling tracks extending 425 km and intends to extend them further to as much as 647 km by 2025,” said Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA.