Dubai: Bus fare in Dubai has been found to be the cheapest when compared with major European cities — with the average fare in the emirate being Dh2, a survey conducted by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has revealed.

As part of its effort to improve public transport services, the RTA did a comparative study of the transport systems across 16 major cities in Europe — Istanbul, Prague, Budapest, Amsterdam, Turin, Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Paris, Vienna, Stuttgart, Berlin, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm and London.

Dr Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of the RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said the agency had implemented a comprehensive benchmark survey on public bus fares and found it was cheaper to travel on public buses in Dubai when compared with 16 European cities.

“The survey on public bus fare was carried out depending on a reliable international public transportation (PT) source to strike a comparison between Dubai Bus fare and the same fare in a number of cities in different countries,” said Dr Al Ali.

He added that the average Dubai bus fare is only €0.4 (Dh2), which is the cheapest among the advanced cities selected for the survey.

‘Best in world’

“The fares in other cities exceed by two to ten times more than Dubai. The difference in the bus service between Dubai and other cities is evident, taking into consideration the sophisticated bus network the RTA is operating, which indisputably classifies the Dubai Bus service as the best in the world, not only in terms of fare, but also from other different perspectives, including high quality, safety and luxury,” he added.

Highlighting the dramatic growth of the bus service in Dubai he said the ridership on public buses had increased by seven per cent over last year.

As many as 120 million travelled by bus in Dubai last year.

Dr Al Ali added that the RTA’s Public Transport Agency operates three types of buses, standard, articulated and double-decker, along with coaches servicing the Dubai-Abu Dhabi route.

He reaffirmed that the public bus network is well-connected and integrated with other public transport modes in Dubai such as Dubai Metro and the water bus and water taxi.