7 Dubai traffic fixes coming soon: Sky pods, flying taxis, an Underground Metro and more
This is the future of public transport…
It might feel personal when you’re sitting in traffic on the SZR commute, listening to the latest Alfred jingle for the 11th time that day, but reducing road congestion is an urban challenge experienced globally.
Sky Pods
Sky Pods
skyway
Sky Way
Metro Blue Line 2
Blue Line Metro Station
Metro Blue Line 4
Blue Line Metro Station
dubai metro blue line
Blue Line Metro Route Map
Newly built futuristic metro station at the Business Bay area of Dubai, UAE
Dubai Metro
Dubai driverless metro with futuristic city skyline on background in Dubai, UAE
Driverless metro in Dubai approaching the subway station with futuristic city skyline on background in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Persian Gulf.
Virgin Hyperloop feat
Hyperloop
flying taxis in Dubai
Flying Taxis
Joby Aircraft flying taxis in Dubai
Flying Taxis
Joby Aircraft flying taxis in Dubai
Joby Aircraft flying taxis in Dubai
RTA Driverless taxi
Driverless taxi
weride txai driverless car
Driverless taxi
Jumeirah Golf Estates Metro Station
Smart Stations
It’s a particularly important task in cities that are growing at the pace of Dubai. There’s little point in concentrating all your amelioratory energy on short-term fixes, this city is on an exponential curve, and that requires considering future-proof solutions too. Fortunately for us, that’s what Dubai’s visionary leaders have been doing since the UAE’s inception.
These are the innovative ways Dubai is planning to improve traffic over the next few years
Sky Pods
These dangling cable car-looking contraptions are more correctly titled “Suspended Transport Systems”. A recent Executive Council meeting, chaired by H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE – approved a 65km long network of them as part of Dubai’s Smart Mobility Strategy. The service will connect Umm Suqeim Street, Al Khor and Zabeel. The Smart Mobile Strategy goal is to increase public transportation use to 26 per cent of all trips by the year 2030.
The manufacturers of these transport units are quoting that their product can reach speeds of up to 150kph. Because they’re group transit and solar-powered, they can be five times as energy efficient as current-gen electric vehicles.
SkyWay
Its current development status is unclear, but another transport system currently being considered for the Smart Mobile Strategy that, like the pods, operates as a suspended vehicle model is SkyWay. Operating on a string-rail overpass between skyscrapers, the network would be considerably shorter than that envisaged for the Sky Pods, but each you’d be able to fit more passengers in each unit.
Driverless vehicles
Autonomous cars and buses are already on the roads of our neighbouring emirate, Abu Dhabi. But a limited version of Dubai’s own service might be coming sooner than you think. The road tests have already taken place. How do automated cars reduce traffic I hear you scream aggressively into your screen? Well they cause fewer accidents and follow the rules of the road (not looking at any drivers of specific car manufacturers here but you know who you are).
Hyperloop
Despite suffering some setbacks, the development of the Dubai Hyperloop does appear to be back on track. Or levitating slightly above it. This high-speed (honestly, this thing can travel at a supersonic 1000kph) mass transit system uses maglev technology to hurtle through tubes with a maintained vacuum. The Dubai Hyperloop was initially proposed to serve as a Dubai to Abu Dhabi link (in around 12 minutes) and as far as we know, that’s still the plan. More news on this as we get it.
The Blue Line Metro
Dubai Metro’s currently under-construction, third network – the Blue Line has some pretty interesting features to it. Top of the tantalising train facts list is that, the majority of the 30m track will be underground (about 15.5km in total) to a depth of up to 70 metres, with five of the proposed 14 stations being designated as ‘underground stations’. For all the up-to-date information on the Blue Line and a glimpse at its projected route map, check out our full guide on the project.
Flying taxis
Coming to a stretch of horizon near you very soon… The RTA have recently stated that we can expect to see the first, fully electric flying taxis, transporting up to four passengers by Q1 of 2026, that’s about 18 months away. The team behind the sky cabs is Joby Aviation, and initial operations will ferry voyagers between four Vertiports: Dubai International Airport (DXB), Palm Jumeirah, Dubai Marina and Downtown. And they’ll do it pretty quickly, these mega drones are capable of speeds up to 320kph, and with zero traffic lights (or trams) up there in the big blue – you won’t have much idle time for podcasts and crosswords.
Smart stations
Finally, a solution that might not seem the most obvious public transport fix, but could really help impact efficiency – is the application of smart stations. This requires dynamic systems that are able to monitor passenger flow and respond accordingly, as well as streamlining the fare payment system at metro and tram stations.
Images: provided/Getty
