The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) regulates transportation within the city of Dubai, U.A.E. Its mission is to remain a municipal traffic solution provider. Initially started as Dubai transport in 1998, the government of Dubai revamped the system to unify its services under the brand name “RTA” in 2006, in order to accommodate the metro and other facilities under one name.
Dubai has a very large bus system run by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA). The bus system has 193 routes on weekdays and transports over 30 million people weekly. The Public Transport bus system is large and advanced but not large enough to accommodate the volume of people who use it.
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The (RTA) has announced that Dubai roads will see 1616 new buses; a world record bus purchase. The buses will be of various sizes & models manufactured at the highest security & safety standards. The buses are equipped with the latest technologies such as voice announcement of the next stop, passengers counting system, bus-positioning system linked with the RTA Control Center, and internal & external display monitors. The new fleet is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2008.
Dubai also has an extensive taxi system, by far the most frequently used means of public transport within the Emirate. There are both government-operated and private cab companies. The Dubai Transport Corporation operates cream-colored taxis. Some of the private cab companies are Cars Taxi, National Taxi, Citi taxi and Metro Taxi. The meter generally begins as Dhs. 6.00 and is generally charged by distance at 1.5 Dhs./km. There are approximately 7500 taxis located in the city.
Because of the growing population, commuters in Dubai experience a high amount of traffic congestion. The city has become the most congested city in the Middle East. Professionals working in Dubai spend an average of 1 hour and 45 minutes commuting to and from work. The government has invested heavily in the Dubai’s road infrastructure, although this has not kept pace with the increase in the number of vehicles. This, coupled with the induced phenomenon, has led to growing problems of congestion.
