Dubai adds more bus, taxi lanes to help you beat traffic

Dubai - 11.6km of dedicated bus and taxi lanes in Dubai serve seven key streets.

By Web Report

Published: Sat 9 Jan 2021, 11:48 AM

Last updated: Sat 9 Jan 2021, 11:56 AM

Travelling on buses and taxis in Dubai will help you beat traffic. Dedicated lanes coming up across the city are helping cut journey times.

Advertising

On Saturday, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced that it had completed the third phase of the Dedicated Bus and Taxi Lanes Project on Khalid bin Al Waleed Street.

The lane extends 4.3km from the intersection of Khalid bin Al Waleed Street-Al Mina Street up to a point just before the intersection of Zabeel Street, and in both directions.

ALSO READ: Now reach Dubai from Sharjah by bus in 12 minutes

The dedicated lane will be operational on Thursday, January 21. In the lead-up to this date, bus drivers will be using the lanes on a trial basis.

The dedicated lane has been marked by a distinctive red colour.

By completing Phase III, the total length of dedicated bus and taxi lanes rises to 11.6km spread over seven key streets: Al Mankhool, Al Khaleej, Khalid bin Al Waleed, Al Ghubaiba, Naif, Al Ittihad and Al Mina.

Currently, 40 bus routes use dedicated lanes, including 19 that use Khalid bin Al Waleed Street.

Mattar Mohammed Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority, said: “The completion of Phase III of the project culminates the huge successes of the initial two phases that saved about five minutes in the journey of each bus, which improved the bus journey times by 24%.

“Building dedicated bus and taxi lanes is a successful global practice that encourages people to ride public transport means rather than private vehicles.

“It is a common practice in several metropolitan cities in North America and Europe. It aims to increase the percentage of compliance with the on-time departures, encourage the public to use mass transport, improve the taxi arrival time, and reduce the direct and indirect operational costs as well as the pollutant emissions,” added Al Tayer.

Earlier, the RTA completed the construction of dedicated bus lanes stretching 7.3km that include parts of:

>> Naif Street (1km)

>> Al Ittihad Road (500m)

>> Al Mina Street (1.7km from Kuwait Street to the Falcon intersection)

>> Al Mankhool Street (1.8km from Al Satwa roundabout to Sheikh Rashid Street)

>> Al Khaleej Street (1.7km from the Creek Street to Al Musalla Street)

>> Khalid bin Al Waleed Street (100m from Al Mina Street Intersection to Street 16)

>> Al Ghubaiba Street (500m from Al Mina Street intersection to Street 12).