Congestion taxes residents' minds

As commuting woes continue to bother UAE residents, a few have spoken out and responded to what they perceive as the root causes and possible solutions in the latest Gulf News/YouGov survey that focused on traffic and roads in the UAE. Within the general responses there were sharp divides and visible differences in opinion among the nationalities and income groups.

Click here to see the survey results (pdf)

Looking at the road network, a total of 87 per cent say that they find the road system either insufficient or highly insufficient to deal with the current volume of traffic. However, only 21 per cent thought that the condition of the roads was bad, with UAE nationals being the most critical.

An average of 52 per cent of all respondents find police patrol on the roads inappropriate, with the vast majority of Westerners participating in the survey expressing discontent over the road monitoring system currently in place.

When questioned about the path to getting on UAE roads, that is obtaining a driving licence, respondents were divided down the middle over the ease factor. However, 55 per cent of Westerners and 46 per cent of UAE nationals are of the opinion that it is relatively easy to get a licence, while 43 per cent of Asians thought otherwise. The fact that persons with a valid driving licence from most Asian countries have to undergo a physical driving test, while most persons holding a valid driving licence from a Western or GCC country obtain a UAE licence over the counter could have influenced this result.

As parking is also troubling many residents, 84 per cent say that the most effective solution to reduce parking problems is to build paid multi-storey parking garages, with only 14 per cent in favour of introducing more paid parking meters in residential areas.

Once on the road the sample size of 519 respondents was asked what they thought were the primary causes of accidents. Aggressive and rash drivers ranked top with 77 per cent, with mobile phone usage coming second at 66 per cent and speeding following a close third at 64 per cent. Asked for suggestions to minimise accidents, the survey found that 55 per cent thought road widening would help while 49 per cent felt tougher driving tests would be beneficial.

Differences of nationality cropped up when asked about the cost factor associated with traffic fines in the UAE. A near equal proportion of 42 and 41 per cent found the fines are just about right or too expensive, respectively. Westerners (43 per cent) found the penalties are too cheap, while only 5 per cent of Asians and UAE nationals agreed. The majority of Asians found it too expensive and 53 per cent of UAE nationals thought the current fines are fair. Though it appears to be a nationality divide, it could be read into further as an income-group divide given the disparity in salaries among the different communities.

An average taken of time spent in commuting for professional purposes revealed that the respondents spent 18 per cent of their working day on the roads. When broken down further it averaged out to approximately 84 minutes (about 1.5 hours) per day as the time spent in purely getting to and from work. Queue jumping while merging with traffic was cited as the major cause for traffic congestion with 70 per cent voting for it and 85 per cent calling for an improvement in public transport facilities as a way to alleviating commuter issues. Other factors highlighted as causing congestion were same timings for schools and offices, bottle necks, impatient drivers and not enough lanes in certain areas. Another favoured solution to prevent jams was to encourage public transport by having a dedicated bus lane.

However, most Westerners are not optimistic about motorists respecting dedicated lanes, with an overwhelming 78 per cent expressing pessimism. UAE nationals were equally divided between yes, no and don't know when asked about drivers abiding by the dedicated lane law and Asians were largely confident that they would be respected. Interestingly, the lower income groups were also more optimistic, and religious differences were also evident as most irreligious individuals were less enthusiastic about the success of a dedicated lane.

Currently, 83 per cent of the respondents travel by car and 43 per cent of them said they would prefer to use the metro-rail assuming all modes of transport were available. However, bus and boat or abra were not looked at as favourable travel options among the respondents and most said that long waiting periods, long routes and congestion prevent them from using buses, and lack of easy availability or accessibility dissuade them from travelling in abras.

Westerners and Asians are more enthusiastic about the metrorail with UAE nationals emerging as the group least likely to use it. Also in terms of using the bus or abra, Westerners are the group least likely to use them though UAE nationals attributed their reasons for not using these modes of public transport to lack of status and lack of commuters from the same nationality.

Not surprisingly those with an income of less than $2,665 say they are most likely to use the bus, citing cheaper costs as the main advantage of public over private transport.