RTA launches 6th Public Transport Day on Nov 1

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is all set for the launch the sixth edition of Public Transport Day initiative next Sunday, on the first of November, coinciding with RTA’s 10th anniversary.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, said, "The initiative has succeeded in realising its objectives of showcasing the role of Dubai in supporting efforts made to improve the environment, achieve sustainable development, encourage people to use public transport means, and raise public transport ridership levels by educating users about the benefits of public transport. The Day is also intended to promote RTA’s modern mass transit means comprising the Dubai metro and tram as well as buses and marine transit modes, besides achieving the integration of multi-modal transit systems, and showcasing the leading role of Dubai in general and RTA in particular in uplifting the profile of public transport."

He added, "The sixth round of Public Transport Day initiative features a wide participation of public entities, academic institutions and private organizations. The RTA has got a diverse cast of distinctive events to celebrate the occasion including the participation of teams from the RTA and other government departments in a contest aimed at diffusing the public transport culture by selecting a specific route encompassing all public transit modes. The event will also run multi-discipline outdoor sports competitions at Burj Plaza, a Fair of healthy diets, besides the honoring of the most frequent users of public transport means."

"The public transport means comprising the metro, tram, public buses and water transport means (Abras, Ferry, Water Bus and Water Taxi) in addition to taxicabs (Dubai Taxi and franchise companies) have lifted in 2014 more than 531 million riders. The figure compares well with the public transport ridership of 440.672 million riders recorded in 2013, and 367.657 million riders recorded in 2012. The average daily ridership of public transport means in Dubai clocked last year 1.475 million riders compared with 1.3 million riders served in 2013 and about one million riders lifted in 2012," explained Al Tayer.

The integrated array of mass transit means in Dubai, which covers the metro, tram, public buses and water transport means, has become a key component of people’s mobility in various parts of the Emirate. The share of public transport in the people movement has soared from 6% in 2006 to as much as 14% in 2014, and the RTA is seeking to push up this share to 20% by 2020.

"The public transport means comprising the metro, tram, public buses and water transport means (Abras, Ferry, Water Bus and Water Taxi) in addition to taxicabs (Dubai Taxi and franchise companies) have lifted in 2014 more than 531 million riders. The figure compares well with the public transport ridership of 440.672 million riders recorded in 2013, and 367.657 million riders recorded in 2012. The average daily ridership of public transport means in Dubai clocked last year 1.475 million riders compared with 1.3 million riders served in 2013 and about one million riders lifted in 2012," explained Al Tayer.

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