594 million use public and shared transport in Dubai in 2019

A total of 594 million riders in Dubai used public and shared transport means in 2019, compared to 589 million in 2018, Dubai Media Office reported.

The public and shared transport means include the metro, tram, public buses, marine transport (abra, ferry, water taxi, water bus), e-hail vehicles, smart car rental vehicles, and taxis (Dubai Taxi and franchise companies).

The share of public transport and shared mobility in people’s journeys scaled from 6 per cent in 2006 to 18.1 per cent in 2019 while the daily average number of public transport riders in Dubai totaled 1.63 million in 2019.

“Dubai Metro accounted for the biggest chunk of riders of public transport, shared mobility and taxi riders amounting to 34 per cent, ahead of taxis (30 per cent) followed by public buses (26 per cent),” said Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, director general and chairman of the board of executive directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

“March 2019 was the busiest of all months recording 53.28 million riders and December was the next witnessing 53 million riders. Ridership in other months ranged from 45 to 52 million riders.”

Classification of transit means
The number of Dubai Metro riders on the Red and Green Lines totaled 202.98 million in 2019, making it the most sought-after medium of transport in the emirate.

Burjuman and Union stations, the interchange stations on the Red and Green Lines, made up the biggest share of riders, serving 12.76 million and 10.6 million respectively, the statement said.

Al Rigga station was the busiest on the Red Line serving 9.64 million riders, followed by Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall (7.89 million riders), Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre station (7.77 million riders), Mall of the Emirates (7.55 million riders), and Deira City Centre (7.42 million riders).

Al Fahidi station ranked the busiest on the Green Line serving 7.83 million riders, followed by Baniyas station (6.58 million riders), Stadium (5.74 million riders), Oud Metha (4.99 million riders) and Salahuddin (4.95 million riders).

Taxis (Dubai Taxi, Hala Taxi and franchise companies) came in at second place, having served 179.86 million riders in 2019, while public buses attended to 157.1 million riders, ranking third.

Shared mobility means (e-hailing and smart rental vehicles) attended to 33.24 million riders while marine transport means (abras, water bus, water taxi, and ferry) lifted 14.36 million riders in 2019.

Meanwhile, Dubai Tram served 6.51 million riders last year, the statement said.

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