Dubai: Sylvia Pliego lives in a three-bedroom villa in Arabian Ranches. Weekends are spent lounging around the pool with the family.
On weekdays, while her new 2009 Kia Mohave remains parked in the garage, Pliego walks to the nearest bus-stop, hops on a bus going to Mall of The Emirates, and then ‘Metros' her way through the day. She calls it ‘Metro-ing'.
Clearly, the goal isn't penny-pinching. Pliego is among the emerging breed of Dubai's affluent who are re-thinking their lifestyles.
Reports show there's a new trend emerging. There's been a shift in mentality. The definition of luxury is being rewritten.
According to Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) reports, the opening of the new Metro stations has led to a growing number of residents ditching their cars for the Metro. And we're not talking middle-class or low-income earners. From 40,000 users per day in September last year to an approximate 100,000 users per day in May this year, the numbers are growing rapidly.
And a noticeable segment of these figures are Dubai's elite.
No Traffic
"During rush hours, the Metro gets me to work much faster than my car would," admits Italian businessman Luca Maida who, until the opening of the Dubai Marina station, used to drive his 2008 Jaguar X5 from his Marina home to the congested BurJuman area.
Until a month ago, Pliego needed a four-wheel drive to go even to the local shop for groceries. What brought about her sudden affiliation for the Metro? Her Argentinean friend Sandra Berrettoni.
"I was visiting Sylvia on holiday and wanted to see the Bur Dubai museum," says Berrettoni, who suggested they take the Metro.
Normally, that is an area Pliego would never drive into. "At first mention of using the Metro, I was sceptical. I don't even use taxis. But the horrors of Bur Dubai traffic made me get on a bus from Arabian Ranches to Mall of the Emirates (MOE), and then on a Metro to Bur Dubai. Immediately, I was a convert. I can't believe I spent so many months avoiding areas like Bur Dubai, Deira and Satwa just because I hadn't discovered the luxury of the Metro. For a trip from home to Bur Dubai, I can save over an hour. It would be insane to use my car instead," says the Mexican mother of two.
Parking in Mall of The Emirates used to be a nightmare for Angela Governato. More often than not, the Norwegian-Italian interior designer would give up the struggle and opt for valet service which, at Dh50, is more expensive than at most other places. As soon as the Metro station at Dubai Marina opened, things changed.
"My building is next door to the station. And a lot of my work is at MOE. It makes sense to hop on a train, instead of getting my car out of the parking, drive here, sit in the heat till the AC kicks in, then find a place to park… With the Metro, it's door to door service," says Governato with a smile.
No parking problems
Pliego agrees. "Parking was one of the key reasons I'd never go to certain areas. Even going to my hairdressers in Satwa was turning into a problem." Those problems, Sylvia acknowledges, are now non-existent. "The Metro's simplified life. I feel as though I have the freedom to go anywhere I want."
Avoiding Salik
Besides parking woes, Governato has her own unique reasons for leaving her new Land Rover at home and opting to jump on a public train instead. "First of all, I don't get hassled by the whole Salik issue," she says and goes on to add that one no longer needs to pay for Salik, and the fuel, when for a similar amount, one can get an entire trip on the Metro.
Like many single women her age, Governato loves her after-work activities: shopping, socialising, buying the latest in fashion and having fun.
Hers is the life of a 20-something woman with the spending power to do what she wants. When she drives, she valets the car; when she shops, the clothes have to be to her taste; when she socialises, she hangs out at some of the trendiest places in town. And yet, there's an extremely down-to-earth streak in Governato: She doesn't think twice about hopping on the Metro for the sake of convenience.
Safety
"It's almost like having your own driver and car, but without the money involved," says Sharon Vanas, a South African housewife. Despite sharing a family car with her husband, Vanas uses the Metro as her premier means of transport.
For Maida, the Metro provides a safe alternative to driving through busy roads. Regardless of the cost, Maida says it would still be his preferred mode of transport. "It's so much safer than driving around or taking taxis," says the businessman. The probability of an accident, however, minor, while driving through the city, is relatively high. "Plus, it's so relaxing. I don't need to concentrate on the roads and incoming traffic. I get to unwind, do some reading, listen to music or browse the net while making my way to work," he says.
When it comes to making a choice between buying yet another car or saving for a rainy day, South African Samantha McChesney would choose the latter. For nearly three years, McChesney did the daily drive to her Emirates airline office, where she works in Corporate Communication.
VIP Service
This year, her life changed. "There's a new Metro station in the Emirates building I work in. And I live just behind Mall of the Emirates, which has its own station too. It's like receiving a VIP service, being dropped off two minutes from my doorstep and picked up from within the building," she says.
McChesney, who along with her fiancé Mike Renshaw, owns a Mitsubishi Pajero, doesn't understand why families now feel the need for more than one car.
"On weekends, my husband and I use the Metro all the time," says Vanas, who until the opening of the Ibn Battuta station used to drive around in a Hyundai Tuscon V8.
"The trains arrive every 10 minutes or so, the crowds are minimum, since we get on at one of the earlier stations, and we can go all over Dubai, even mall-hopping, if we so choose. When we came back from our holiday, we used the Metro from the airport to get home, with bags and all. It's fantastic how life has changed. Weekdays I use the Metro at least three out of five days, and every weekend, you'll find my husband and me joyriding all through the city."
For Palestinian sales engineer Amir Dwaik, his opinion contradicts early theories that public transport was only for the down-on-their-luck, low-income or labour classes.
According to Dwaik, the Metro makes perfect sense for those who have the luxury of time.
"On weekends, when I'm in no hurry to meet deadlines, I would use the Metro. In a job like mine where I drive for hours on end every single weekday, it's a luxury to get on a train on weekends and see Dubai from the passenger's seat. There's so much you miss when behind the wheel," he says.
Service
"There's no comparison to the service the Metro offers," says Vanas, who Metros her way for everything from coffee mornings with friends to pub-hopping with her husband to catch the Fifa specials at different hotels around town. "Taxis don't even come close," she admits. "And driving… why bother any more?"
"Now that it's summer, walking to the car, waiting for the AC system to kick in, and then driving through the sun, can be a bit tedious, to say the least. The Metro, on the other hand, is clean, cool and air-conditioned, as are the buses, and now, even some of the bus stops! I don't see how it could get any easier or better," says Pliego, adding that of all the Metro systems she has seen in the world, "Dubai's is definitely the cleanest I've ever seen."
