Nearly 461 million riders in Dubai used public transport, shared transport and taxis, which include metro, tram, public buses, marine transport means (abras, ferry, water taxi, water bus), e-hail vehicles and taxis in 2021.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said the number compares well with the number announced in 2020: about 346 million riders.
The daily average of riders using mass transit means and taxis last year reached 1.3 million riders, compared to about 948,000 in 2020.
The Dubai Metro (34 percent) and taxis (33 percent) accounted for the biggest share in the number of riders using public transport.
The share of public buses amounted to 25 percent of the total number of public transport commuters. December 2021 recorded the highest number of public transport users with 53 million riders, followed by November recording 50 million riders.
The number of riders in each of the remaining months ranged from 30 to 48 million riders, said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport Authority.
Last year, Dubai Tram carried 5.34 million riders, public buses served 116.3 million riders and marine transport means (abras, water bus, water taxi and the ferry) lifted 10.94 million riders.
Last year also, shared transport means (e-hail vehicles, and smart rental vehicles) were used by 22.9 million riders, and taxis (Dubai Taxi and franchise companies) lifted 154.7 million riders.