Work will take place between 2023 and 2027…

Drivers rejoice. If you find yourself getting frustrated by the Dubai transport and traffic – JBR residents, we see you – you’ll be thrilled by this recent announcement. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has endorsed a plan to construct dedicated taxi and bus lanes, which span 50 kilometres and drastrically reduce the travel time.

The project will start in 2023 and will be completed by 2027. When completed, Dubai will have an additional 37km of dedicated lanes for taxis and buses, making the total length of these routes a whopping 48.6km.

The new lanes aim to reduce travel time during peak hours by up to 40 per cent, and contribute to a 30 per cent increase of people using public transport.

The Roads and Transport Authority confirmed that it will cover eight main streets: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah Street, 2nd December Street, Amman Street, Al Satwa Road, Al Nahda Street, Omar bin Al Khattab Street and Naif Street.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, said: “The dedicated bus and taxi lanes is a successful global practice that encourages people to ride public transport rather than private vehicles.

“As seen in several metropolitan cities in America and Europe dedicated bus and taxi lanes reduce journey time, increase the compliance with the on-time bus departures, encourage public to use mass transport means, improve the taxi arrival time, and reduce the direct and indirect operational costs as well as pollutions.”

Al Tayer added: “The introduction of this project is expected to reduce bus journey time by 44 per cent on the 2nd December Street, 39 per cent on the Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah Street and Amman Street, 28 per cent on the Omar bin Al-Khattab Street, 27 per cent on Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street, 25 per cent on Al-Nahda Street, and 18 per cent on Al Satwa Road. The project is expected to contribute to a 30 per cent increase in public transport riders by 2030 on some streets, and reduce the requirements of additional buses due to the journey time saved”.

Less time in traffic and more time at our destination sounds like a great plan to us.

Images: Provided