Dubai’s RTA Announces Added Bus & Taxi Lanes To Eight Main Roads

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai has revealed plans to add special bus and taxi lanes to eight major roads, potentially cutting travel time by 44 per cent. The RTA has approved a proposal to build 37km of dedicated bus and taxi lanes during the next five years, between 2023 and 2027. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Street, 2nd December Street, Amman Street, Al Satwa Road, Al Nahda Street, Omar bin Al-Khattab Street, and Naif Street will be among the eight important routes covered by the new lanes.

His Excellency Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority, 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 the public to use mass transport means, improve the taxi arrival time, and reduce the direct and indirect operational costs as well as pollutions. The project contributes to realising RTA’s strategic goal (Integrated Dubai), improving the living standards in the city, and enhancing the happiness of public transport riders.”

“Widening the scope of dedicated bus lanes increases the average bus speed and reduces the travel time during peak hours by more than 40%. The introduction of this project is expected to reduce bus journey time by 44% on the 2nd December Street, 39% on the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Street and Amman Street, 28% on the Omar bin Al-Khattab Street, 27% on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street, 25% on Al-Nahda Street, and 18% on Al Satwa Road. The project is expected to contribute to a 30% increase in public transport riders by 2030 on some streets, and reduce the requirements of additional buses due to the journey time saved,” he explained.

“The implementation of a dedicated bus and taxi lanes plan is a huge success based on the past three phases of the project. It saved about 5 minutes of journey time for each bus, which improved the bus journey times by about 24%. It also improved the satisfaction of bus and taxi riders,” added Al Tayer.

Read the entire article here.