Dubai Metro ridership hits 23m passengers since Sept ’09: Al Tayer

Dubai Metro ridership hits 23m passengers since Sept ’09: Al Tayer

 130k passengers used the metro on July 1st
 212% rise in the daily ridership of the metro
 185% growth in the number of passengers from October 09 to June 10

Roads & Transport Authority – Mohammed Al Munji:
H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board & Executive Director of the Roads & Transport Authority, revealed the Dubai Metro ridership broke the barrier of 23 million passengers since the launch of the service on 09/09/09 up to the first of week of July 2010. Al Tayer also stated that the daily ridership of the Metro has reached a new height on Thursday 01 July 2010 clocking 130,529 passengers.

Al Tayer expressed his delight with these statistics which demonstrate that RTA plan to increase mass transport ridership is moving on the right track, and also reflect a transition, though small, in the culture of the community towards using mass transit systems. “People have started to perceive the benefits and advantages of using of public transport such as the psychological & physical comfort in transit, and reduced fuel & vehicle maintenance costs besides the contribution of using public transport to effectively cutting road accident mortalities, and reducing carbon emissions from vehicle exhausts,” he stated.

“The number of metro users is steadily on the rise since the launch of the service on 09 September 2009 with ridership jumping from 1.8 million passengers in October 2009 to 3.3 million passengers in June 2010 recording in the process an increase rate as high as 185 per cent. In September 2009 the number of metro commuters clocked 1,196,920 passengers and the following month saw an increase in the ridership to 1,767,879 passengers. Metro ridership broke the two million passengers barrier in December 2009 and the number kept rising to reach 3,193,087 passengers in May 2010 and touched a higher point last June by clocking 3,262,912 passengers,” continued Al Tayer.

RTA Chairman of the Board & Executive Director further added that the daily ridership of the Dubai Metro jumped from 54,683 passengers in October 2009 to 116,340 passengers last June, recording a 212 per cent rise. July 2010 recorded an all-time high figure in the daily metro ridership as the first day of this month (Thursday) clocked 130,529 passengers. This sustained growth in the metro ridership is attributed to the vibrant nature of Dubai city; which has become a summer tourist destination, thanks to the Dubai Summer Festival and the promotional offers made by hotels & malls, making it a tourist attraction point.

Commenting on passenger breakdown per stations Al Tayer said: “Khalid bin Al Waleed Station is the busiest station as the number of commuters who used the station since the start of the metro operation reached 3,145,210 passengers, followed by Mall of the Emirates Station (3,059,069 passengers), Al Ittihad Station (2,989,879 passengers), Deira City Center Station (2,102,484 passengers), and Al Rashidiya Station (1,829,653 passengers).

“The number of commuters who used the ten new metro stations of which seven have been opened by the end of April and three opened on May 15, witnessed a healthy growth of about two million passengers. Ibn Battuta Station ranked first in the number of users clocking 466,554 passengers, followed by Al Karama Station (276,817 passengers), Dubai Marina Station (231,663 passengers), Emirates Towers Station (211,262 passengers), Emirates Airlines Station (150,670 passengers), Dubai Internet City Station (149,549 passengers), Terminal 1 of Dubai International Airport Station (116,000 passengers), Noor Islamic Bank Station (114,581 passengers), Dubai World Trade Center Station (98,805 passengers ), and GGICO Station (93,058 passengers).
In its strategic plan; which is aligned with the Dubai Strategic Plan (Infrastructure Sector), RTA has set top priority to the integration of multi-modal mass transit systems in the emirate; including public buses, Dubai Metro and marine transport modes spanning abra, water bus and water taxi; which has recently been inaugurated recently. Over the next phase, RTA will seek to disseminate the culture of mass transit modes and encourage community members to use them in their daily travels.

“The huge investments pumped by the Government of Dubai to uplift the infrastructure of transportation sector has paid dividends and proved effective. The growth in the number of mass transit mode users reflects a shift in the culture of using public transport by all segments of the community and the drive was particularly helped by the metro service. RTA public transport means, including the Dubai Metro, public buses, water transport and taxis, have lifted more than 288.777 million passengers in 2009 and the daily ridership of mass transit modes topped 842k passengers. This number is likely to grow with the opening of the remaining stations on the Red Line. Dubai Metro is expected to lift about 35 million passengers in 2010, and the number of metro users is expected to pick up sharply with the operation of the Green Line in August 2011 as this line serves vital areas with commercial activities, government offices and high population density,” said Al Tayer in a final remark.

Photo captions:
- Mattar Al Tayer
- Graphic representation of the monthly number of users
- Graphic representation of the daily metro ridership in June
- Dubai Metro ridership on the rise.