DUBAI: The happiness rating of private vehicle owners with Dubai roads was as much as 90.7 per cent, while taxi riders were found to be the happiest among public transport commuters in Dubai, according to the latest Community Happiness Index of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
Scoring a happiness rating of 91.7 per cent, the taxi riders were followed by Metro riders at 88.6 per cent, public bus users 88.5 per cent, marine transport commuters 86.9 per cent and tram passengers 82.8 per cent. The overall happiness rating of various public transit means clocked 88.4 per cent.
The overall customer happiness rating clocked 89.2 per cent among residents and 85.7 per cent among visitors and tourists.
RTA’s Community Happiness Index scored an overall 89 per cent in 2018, an 11 per cent rise compared with the 78 per cent score in 2017
The report released by RTA was based on the six pillars of RTA’s People Happiness Strategy. In the Education pillar to which RTA attaches paramount importance, respondents expressed their happiness with the initiatives, awareness and educational campaign, and announcements made by RTA about road safety, which was reflected in a happiness rating of 89.6 per cent. In the culture pillar, respondents were happy with RTA’s important role in supporting the culture and heritage of Dubai, and the rating achieved here was 89.5 per cent. In the Governance pillar, respondents were satisfied with their safety when using RTA’s transportation modes, and the rating scored was 89.3 per cent.
In the Economy pillar, residents expressed happiness with their interactions with RTA staff and the diversity of transportation modes in Dubai, and the rating scored was 89.2 per cent. In the Community pillar, respondents felt that RTA had a major impact on Dubai’s economy through effective investment, and achieved a rating of 89.1 per cent. In the Environment pillar, which achieved a happiness rating of 88.4 per cent, respondents believed that RTA plays a major role in supporting environmentally-friendly transportation modes and encouraging people to adopt healthy lifestyles.
Abdullah Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of Licensing Agency and Chairperson of Happiness and Quality Life Council at RTA, said, “The objective of launching the Community Happiness Survey is to understand clients’ needs and improve RTA’s services to deliver best-in-class customer experience and improve overall customers happiness. Several initiatives were made to achieve this objective across various community segments. A total of 4,618 responses were achieved through face-to-face interviews (3,680 persons), telephonic interviews (109 persons) and online interviews (649 persons). Surveys were carried out at different times and areas of Dubai, such as malls, residential areas, taxi stands as well as metro, bus and marine stations. Areas covered included Deira, Bur Dubai, Down Town, Dubai South and Dubai East.
“To ensure the objectivity and diversity of the survey, questionnaires covered various nationalities including Emiratis, GCC nationals and other nationalities from various sectors. It also covered a broad range of living and economic standards including retirees, public relation officers, workers, housewives, students (of different ages and academic levels), visitors, job seekers, public servants, private sector employees, business owners and other social segments. Ages of respondents ranged from 15 to 65 years.
