47mn Dubai commuters ride the bus in '08

MORE POPULAR: Public buses have transported 1.5mn more passengers in 2008 than last year, the RTA says.

Public buses in Dubai have transported 47 million passengers this year, up from 45.5 million passengers for the same period in 2007, the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) said Friday.

Abdullah Yousuf Al-Ali, director of Buses department at RTA Public Transport Agency, said in a statement the agency is developing a plan to upgrade the level of services provided by public buses.

The plan included the introduction of new buses, such as articulated and double-deck buses, which will enable the RTA to cover 95% of Dubai's urban area within less than three years.

"We will also be introducing state-of-the-art inter-city buses to link Dubai with Abu Dhabi, as well as emirates of Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, Ras Al-Khaimah and Al-Fujairah. Other key cities will also be covered by this service such as Al-Ain, Al-Dhaid, Massafi and Jebel Ali," he said.

The RTA has received 14 double deck buses, 215 articulated buses and 150 standards buses and it is anticipated that RTA will take delivery of 620 buses in March 2009, he added.

“Earlier this year, Public Transport Agency invited international businesses to take part in a tender for supplying 1616 new and highly advanced buses to beef up its current public bus fleet in a bid to broaden and enhance the role of mass transit in the emirate of Dubai. Consequently nine world-class companies have tendered their offers."

Dubai’s lack of public transport has emerged as a serious problem for the emirate, with traffic congestion estimated to be costing the city’s economy about 4.6 billion dirhams ($1.25 billion) a year in lost man-hours.

Locals, business executives and tourists - of which six million visit Dubai every year - are increasingly complaining about the time spent standing in searing temperatures and waiting for infrequent buses and taxis.

In response, the RTA plans to spend 52.5 billion dirhams over the next five years to improve road, bus, rail and marine transport, including construction of a metro that is set to come online late next year.

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