70m passengers travelled by Dubai public buses in 2016

The Public Transport Agency of the Roads and Transport Authority, RTA, has confirmed that public buses have carried more than 70 million passengers in the first half of the year, compared with 66,703,583 during the same period in 2015.

This resulted in a 4.6 per cent rise over last year’s records.

Bassel Saad Ibrahim, Director of Buses at the RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said: “The increase of public bus users in Dubai is indicative of the spreading culture of using public transport among various community segments.

“Such a trend is attributed to RTA’s endeavours to operate robust and spacious buses with accurate timings, and integrated with other mass transit facilities such as the metro, tram, and marine transit.”

The RTA is seeking to complement mass transit modes in the emirate in efforts to reduce the use of private vehicles and increase passengers on public transport by making it the ideal choice of people.

RTA has targeted raising the public's use of Dubai's various transport systems to 30 per cent by 2030.

The share of public transport soared from six per cent in 2006 to 15 per cent in 2015, and the rate is expected to reach 16 per cent by the end of this year.

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