In a move to boost the use of public transport in Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has endorsed a plan to construct dedicated bus and taxi lanes extending across 37 km during the period between 2023 and 2027.
The lanes cover eight main streets and will bring the total length of dedicated bus and taxi lanes to 48.6 km.
The director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, Mattar Al Tayer, said: “The dedicated bus and taxi lanes is a successful global practice that encourages people to ride public transport rather than private vehicles.
“As seen in several metropolitan cities in America and Europe dedicated bus and taxi lanes reduce journey time, increase the compliance with the on-time bus departures, encourage public to use mass transport means, improve the taxi arrival time, and reduce the direct and indirect operational costs as well as pollution.
Al Tayer added: “The project contributes to realising RTA’s strategic goal (Integrated Dubai) to improve the living standards in the city and enhance the happiness of public transport riders.”
Where will the dedicated bus and taxi lanes be constructed?
The eight main streets on which the dedicated bus and taxi lanes will be constructed include:
– the Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street,
– Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Street,
– the 2nd December Street,
– Amman Street,
– Al Satwa Road,
– Al Nahda Street,
– Omar bin Al-Khattab Street, and
– Naif Street
Al Tayer added: “Widening the scope of dedicated bus lanes increases the average bus speed and reduces the travel time during peak hours by more than 40 percent.”
The introduction of this project is expected to reduce bus journey time by 44 percent on the 2nd December Street; 39 percent on the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Street and Amman Street; 28 percent on the Omar bin Al-Khattab Street; 27 percent on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street; 25 percent on Al-Nahda Street; and 18 percent on Al Satwa Road.
“The project is expected to contribute to a 30 percent increase in public transport riders by 2030 on some streets, and reduce the requirements of additional buses due to the journey time saved,” Al Tayer explained.
“The implementation of dedicated bus and taxi lanes plan is a huge success based on the past three phases of the project. It saved about five minutes of journey time of each bus, which improved the bus journey times by about 24 percent. It also improved the satisfaction of bus and taxi riders.”
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