Dubai: New dedicated bus lanes to slash travel time by up to 60% on key roads

The public can expect a much quicker travel time via buses and taxis with the journey time dropping by nearly 60 per cent on some routes, due to the new special lanes.

The new dedicated lanes extend over 13km on six major streets: Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah, 2nd of December, Al Satwa, Al Nahda, Omar bin Al Khattab, and Naif.

This project will extend Dubai's network of dedicated bus lanes to over 20km, with the lanes set for completion between 2025 and 2027.

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Dubai currently has dedicated lanes extending 7km. This includes the one on Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road. Additional lanes were added along parts of Naif, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and Al Ghubaiba streets. As per the estimates of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) , the three previous phases of the project reduced trip times for buses on some routes by five minutes per bus, recording an improvement of 24 per cent, since the buses don't get caught up in traffic.

Extending the lanes is expected to boost public transport usage by up to 30 per cent on some roads.

The special lanes sport a distinctive red colour so that private vehicle drivers don’t accidentally use them. Motorists caught driving on these tracks can be fined Dh600.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Directors, RTA, said such dedicated lanes encourage residents to use public transport instead of their private vehicles.

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