Dubai's Public Transport And Taxis Record 361 Million Riders In H1 2024

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) reported that public transport and shared mobility users in Dubai reached approximately 361.2 million in the first half of 2024. This marks a 6 percent rise from around 340.5 million users during the same period in 2023. The daily average number of riders this year was 1.98 million, compared to 1.88 million last year.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, stated, "Dubai Metro and taxis accounted for the largest share of public transport riders, with 37 percent for the metro and 27 percent for taxis. Public buses accounted for 24.5 percent of riders." January 2024 saw the highest number with 65 million users, while other months ranged between 53 and 63 million.

Al Tayer explained that Dubai Metro's Red and Green Lines transported 133 million passengers in the first half of 2024. BurJuman and Union stations had the highest footfall, with BurJuman recording 7.8 million users and Union station seeing 6.3 million users.

"There was a 6 percent growth in the number of riders during the first half of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023," Al Tayer noted. He attributed this increase to Dubai's economic boom, effective RTA plans encouraging public transport use, and diverse mobility options available in the emirate.

On the Red Line, Al Rigga station had the highest number of passengers with 6.2 million users, followed by Mall of the Emirates with 5.6 million, and Business Bay with 5.2 million. On the Green Line, Sharaf DG station ranked first with 4.7 million users, followed by Baniyas station with 4.1 million, and Stadium station with 3.3 million users.

Diverse Mobility Options

Dubai Tram transported 4.5 million passengers in the first half of this year, while public buses carried 89.2 million passengers, and marine transport had about 9.7 million users. Shared mobility services like e-hail vehicles, hourly rental vehicles, and on-demand buses transported around 27.8 million passengers.

Taxis in Dubai carried a significant number of passengers as well—97 million in just six months.

Strategic Plans for Integration

Reflecting on comprehensive plans and achievements, Al Tayer said that RTA’s strategic plans aim for multi-modal integration across all public transport means to ensure smooth mobility throughout Dubai.

This includes developing road networks and expanding all elements of public transport—metro, tram, buses, marine transport—and enhancing pedestrian and cycling infrastructure.

Future Goals

The RTA also focuses on traffic management systems to maximise road efficiency and encourages policies to reduce private vehicle reliance while increasing public transport use.

The strategic objective is to boost public transport journeys' share to reach 25 percent by 2030; it was at 20.9 percent by end-2023.

The integrated system has transformed how residents use public transport across various segments within Dubai.

With inputs from WAM