The long wait for a ride

Have you ever stood on the side of the road for hours trying to hail a cab? Or even stood by a bus stop and waited frustratingly? If your answer is yes, then you could be among the 72 per cent UAE residents who feel the public transport system in the country is inadequate.

Overall, public transport usage is low in the country; fewer than 1 in 3 use some form of public transport. Among those who do, taxis are significantly more common than buses (72 per cent as opposed to 58 per cent).

But, surprisingly, approval of the taxi service is considerably lower compared to the bus service. Bearing that in mind, an astonishing 85 per cent of passengers have been refused a taxi journey based on their choice of destination.

These are some of the conclusions of the latest Gulf News survey undertaken by YouGov-Siraj, which tackled the topic of public transport in the UAE.

Of the 974 people took part in this survey, 51 per cent were Asians, 30 per cent were Arabs, and 16 per cent were Westerners.

Getting to work

Of the total surveyed, 49 per cent live in Dubai, 21 per cent live in Abu Dhabi and 22 per cent in Sharjah (among other emirates). Around two-thirds of our respondents work in the emirate in which they live.

Out of those people, only 23 per cent manage to commute to and from work in less than 30 minutes; 38 per cent say it can take them anything between 30 minutes and 2 hours to make that trip. What then, is their main mode of transport? Given the choice, the vast majority of UAE residents drive to work.

That is, 73 per cent use their own cars, rented cars or company cars to commute to work. It should be noted that over the past 16 months, there has been a 10 per cent decrease; more people are not using taxis, buses and car lifts.

On the other hand, only 30 per cent of our respondents use public transport. A closer look reveals that there are more Asians using public transport compared to Westerners and Arabs.

Taxis are significantly more popular, particularly among Westerners and women, than buses. Taxis are most popular in Abu Dhabi (85 per cent), followed by Sharjah (72 per cent) and Dubai (68 per cent).

Interestingly, for those belonging to the highest income group ($6,666; Dh24,465 a month and above), taxis are the first choice, with 100 per cent saying they rely on them. A third, however, uses buses.

Our survey also indicates that of those who use public transport, 1 in 2 are car owners.

Buses

While the majority of UAE residents are satisfied with the bus service, a substantial minority claim the service is poor. When it comes to punctuality and availability, quality of bus service falls significantly.

Around one third of our respondents feel the availability of routes is very inadequate. Seven in 10 respondents have complained to the appropriate authorities about the poor bus service. Of those, over 3 in 10 claim the response was poor.

According to the majority of UAE residents, adding separate bus lanes on main roads will improve the service dramatically (keeping in mind there is a divergence of opinion amongst the various nationalities: the number of Westerners advocating it is double that of Emiratis).

What about the idea that there should be women-only buses? Should that be introduced? Our respondents are split on this, with a slim majority saying no. A look at female respondents vs male ones also reflects this split.

Taxis

Far fewer residents are satisfied with taxi service when compared to the bus service. More than 3 in 10 residents rate taxi service as poor.

This criticism is particularly pronounced among Westerners with over 56 per cent saying service is bad. Taxi service is rated particularly badly on availability.

It is also fares poorly on driver responsiveness and cost of service. On the other side of the spectrum, taxi customers are most satisfied when it comes to the conditions of the vehicles.

The end destination of a taxi trip can cause problems. More than 8 in 10 respondents have been refused a journey based on their chosen destination, irrespective of their gender, age, or income.

Our survey also shows that Asians are more likely to be refused than any other nationality. For the majority of our respondents, this happens every day! Twenty-three per cent say it happens to them about once a week.

Respondents were also asked to compare the overall taxi service here to other countries (including India, Pakistan, UK and Egypt among others). The UAE fares worst against the UK and Australia.

Nearly half our respondents have complained about poor taxi service to the relevant authorities. And nearly half of those who filed a complaint were dissatisfied with the response, particularly Westerners.

New developments

The UAE hasn't stopped at taxis and buses as public transport modes. Water buses and the metro are exciting new projects that have been in the works for some time now. Over half our respondents are optimistic about the introduction of water taxis.

This optimism is more pronounced among Asians. On the other hand, our survey indicates there is a high level of uncertainty among both Arabs and Westerners.

But when it comes to the other mega project, the metro, there is a far more positive response with 86 per cent saying they are optimistic about it. Asians are again notable for being more positive while Arabs show a high level of uncertainty about the issue.

When it comes to deciding whether to own a car or not in the UAE, there are several factors that impact the respondents decisions. For more than 7 in 10, dissatisfaction with public transport was a key factor.

If all methods of transport were equally convenient and available, what would be the ideal mode of travel? Surprisingly, the most popular response (at 50 per cent) is the metro. That is, 1 in 2 would prefer to travel by metro than in their own car, or by bus, taxi, or walking.

Compared to October 2006, there are 7 per cent more people who would prefer this method of travel. Nowadays, a mere 23 per cent say they prefer to use their own cars.