Win gold for using public transport in Dubai

Supplied photo

Dubai's RTA will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Public Transport Day Initiative with an 11-day festival from November 1 to 11, 2019.
Events will include raffle draws for gold bars for public transport users, a treasure hunt, 2.5 and 5 km races along the Dubai Water Canal promenade and honours for the most frequent riders of public transport.

The events coincide with the 14th anniversary of the RTA and the 5th anniversary of the Dubai Tram. In light of Expo 2020, the RTA is involved in extensive building and infrastructure projects to enhance the city's public transport system.
"The success of the initiative is reflected in improved public awareness of RTA's modern public transit means such as the metro, tram, buses and marine transport as well as the integration accomplished between these modes," said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA.
"Since its establishment, RTA has embarked on improving and integrating mass transit means. Projects undertaken included Dubai Metro extending 75 km and comprising 47 stations, and Dubai Tram spanning 11 km and connecting 11 stations. The fleet of public buses jumped by 145 per cent from 620 buses in 2006 to 1520 bus in 2018. RTA constructed 2,200 bus stops including 689 air-conditioned bus shelters for passengers, and revamped water transport means to encompass the ferry, water bus, water taxi and air-conditioned abra," he said.
These improvements contributed to the growth of public transport ridership by 261 per cent from 163million in 2006 to around 589million passengers in 2018, thus reflecting an increase in the share of public transport in mobility journeys from 6 per cent in 2006 to 17.5 per cent in 2018," he explained.
RTA plans to continue its enhancement public transport infrastructure and efficiency and broaden the scope of smart transit services to the public.
Work on Route 2020 project for extending the Red Line of Dubai Metro to the site of Expo is progressing according to the approved schedule.
RTA is planning to expand the bus network to cover 20 new communities and improve the services across the city by aligning them with the changes in the mobility of people by 2020. It has also procured 725 buses, 1612 taxis and constructed 17 bus stations and depots.