The Dubai Metro was the top choice of public transport in the emirate, accounting for 37 per cent of all commuters in the first half of 2024. Overall public transport ridership clocked 361.2 million in the first six months of the year — a 6 per cent increase over the same period in 2023.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) counts Metro, Tram, public buses, marine transport, taxis, e-hail vehicles, smart rental vehicles, and on-demand buses while computing public transport ridership numbers.
The daily average number of riders in the first half of this year reached 1.98 million, compared to 1.88 million in the same period in 2023.
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Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, said: “Dubai Metro and taxis accounted for the largest share of public transport riders, with 37 per cent for the Metro and 27 per cent for taxis. Public buses accounted for 24.5 per cent of riders. January 2024 saw the highest number with 65 million users, while the remaining months ranged between 53 and 63 million.”
Busiest Metro stations
Dubai Metro’s Red and Green lines transported 133 million passengers in the first half of 2024. BurJuman and Union stations saw the highest number of passengers, with the former recording 7.8 million users and the latter, 6.3 million.
“On the Red Line, Al Rigga station had the highest number of passengers with 6.2 million users, followed by Mall of the Emirates with 5.6 million, and Business Bay with 5.2 million. On the Green Line, Sharaf DG station ranked first with 4.7 million users, followed by Baniyas station with 4.1 million, and Stadium station with 3.3 million users,” said Al Tayer.
Other public transport means
Dubai Tram transported 4.5 million passengers in the first half of the year, while public buses had 89.2 million and marine transport, 9.7 million.
Shared mobility, including e-hail vehicles, hourly rental vehicles, and on-demand buses, transported 27.8 million passengers. Taxis in Dubai carried 97 million passengers in the first half of this year.
“The RTA also focuses on traffic management systems to maximise the efficiency of roads and public transport and implements policies to encourage the public to reduce reliance on private vehicles and increase the use of public and shared transport,” the RTA chief added.