More than 37 million riders used RTA transport during Expo 2020 Dubai

Dubai: A total of 37.3 million riders used services of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) during Expo 2020 Dubai, it was revealed on Sunday.

Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, RTA, said the figure constitutes 67 per cent of the total usage of transport services at Expo, which was held for six months from October 2021 to March 2022.

The number of riders carried out by public transport modes (Dubai Metro, public buses), taxis and e-hail rides (Careem and Uber) reached 26.3 million. Al Tayer noted that RTA’s transit means served 37 per cent of Expo visitors, and about 11.038 million motorists used RTA’s parking slots during Expo.

Advance planning

“Thanks to the huge support and patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and the close follow-up of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council, we had succeeded in providing unique, easy and fast transportation services for both participants and visitors of Expo 2020,” Al Tayer said.

“The integrated infrastructure of road and transportation networks, as well as the master mobility plan developed by RTA in cooperation with strategic partners, was instrumental in facilitating the movement of residents and visitors from Dubai and other emirates to Expo 2020.”

Number of journeys

From October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, the Dubai Metro service to Expo clocked 8.203 million riders.

Public buses (Expo Rider) constituted for 15.525 million riders. The bus service was run by four types of services: Expo Rider Inter-city had 1.096 million riders, Expo Rider Dubai had 1.414 million riders, Parking Shuttles to the three Gates (Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability) had 10.2 million riders, and People Movers between gates had 2.814 million riders.

Taxi and e-hail ride services had 2.584 million riders, added Al Tayer.

Parking at Expo

RTA managed more than 29,000 parking slots at the site of Expo at several zones (Opportunity, Mobility, Sustainability, World and Nissan Parking).

11.038 million users used RTA’s parking services. RTA used sophisticated technology to manage parking, including the use of smart messaging signs and identifying vacant parking slots at the site. The Call Centre received more than 30,000 calls, and customers satisfaction rating exceeded 92 per cent, he said.

Integrated infrastructure

RTA constructed integrated infrastructure to serve Expo 2020 Dubai, costing more than Dh15 billion. High on the list is Route 2020, a 15km extension of the Dubai Metro connecting seven stations served by newly procured 50 trains.

RTA constructed a wide roads network comprising 138 lane-km and nine flyovers in addition to deploying more than 200 public buses featuring “the highest international specifications”. It provided 18 stations and bus stops in Dubai and key cities across the UAE, besides providing more than 15,000 taxis and limousines.

RTA’s preparations to serve Expo included the construction of the Enterprise Command and Control Centre (EC3), “one of the biggest and most sophisticated roads and transport control centers worldwide in terms of employing smart technologies in traffic management”.

Dubai Metro

• 87 trains

• Headway: 2 minutes, 30 seconds

• Distance travelled by Expo service: 5,717,674km

Car Parking

• Total number of parking slots Managed: 29,197

• No of DMS Boards Used: 23

• No of DMS Messages: 623

• Total Expo signs installed: 4,503

Public Buses

• Number of Expo Riders: 188

• Number of Parking Shuttles: 121

• Number of People Movers: 19

• Total distance covered: 7,357,881km

Enterprise Command and Control Centre

• Number of cameras monitored: 1,512

• Number of EC3 alerts for Expo: 3,119

Taxis

• Average trips per day: 4,666

• Taxi availability (Peak): 94.5 per cent