RTA says optimal use of public transport key to solving Dubai gridlock

Dubai: Optimal use of public transport is touted as the panacea for Dubai's worsening traffic woes. The Road and Transport Authority (RTA) is convinced it is the only long-term solution to end the constant traffic gridlock that causes economic losses to the tune of billions of dirhams.

Paid parking and new toll gates are being installed in the city to make life harder for car owners, encouraging them to leave their private vehicles behind in favour of public transport.

Car owners

But the call to use public transport seems to fall on deaf ears as the population of private car owners in Dubai continues to swell.

Why are people so reluctant? To find out, Gulf News took to the streets to do a reality check on the efficacy of the city's public transport system.

It was a nerve-wrecking experience to wait for cabs during peak hours and hop from one bus to another to reach a destination, an eye-opener to the difficulties faced by Dubai residents who do not own cars.

The omnipresent cream-coloured taxis were not so present when you needed them between 7am and 9am, or between 5pm and 8pm.

During these peak hours, you need real luck to attract the attention of cab drivers.

I was not so lucky while waiting in front of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Shaikh Zayed Road and Lamcy Plaza. More than two hours, and I could still not find a cab to take me home. The number of passengers waiting always outnumbered the cabs that stopped, and at least half a dozen refused to pick up passengers.

There are hundreds who endure this every day, I realised. People who work in these areas said it was a daily ordeal for them.

However, contrary to many complaints from readers that cabs do not turn up even when booked in advance, the call-a-cab service by the RTA turned out to be a better option, except on one or two occasions.

Again, timing is crucial. A cab called behind Movenpick Hotel on Oud Metha Road at around 6pm was a disappointment. But at Fish Roundabout, Sun and Sands Building in Bur Dubai, and on Bank Street, busy as they are in the evening peak hours, cabs did turn up, although half an hour to an hour late.

I gave up on taxis, and tried the cheap transport of the common man, public buses. I spent an hour at the Satwa bus stop looking for information on bus routes and timings while the sun was scorching down. Buses were never on time, and arbitrary changes of routes and timings often leave passengers stranded, I found out.

Are you forced to make use of public transportation? How long, on average, does it take you to reach you destination? What can be done to improve the effiencency of public tranportation in the UAE?