Emirate’s Bus Priority Project Enters in Phase III

It seems the delays in bus timings and taxi arrivals will no more be a part of Dubai’s busy lifestyle as the Emirates enters Phase III of its bus priority project initiated in 2010. The project which aims to improve the time and distance consumed by local transports, will improve the network of dedicated lanes to over 30km.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), the authority that operates buses and taxis in the Emirates, has selected 10 routes out of 50 that would be expanded in the current phase of the project. The locations cover both the Central Business Districts with localities such as Bur Dubai and Deira and new developments of the city that are expected to undergo traffic influx in the coming years.

According to PTA’s CEO, Yousef Al Ali, the selection of the locations is based on current demand for the service, expected growth of a particular area, current traffic conditions and the resources currently deployed in the corridor.

The project not only includes expansion of dedicated lanes but will also seek to implement new technologies to increase the effectiveness of the bus and taxis running in the metropolitan. These would include among other things new methods of monitoring violations like installing cameras that would monitor private vehicles using dedicated bus lanes.

The current phase of the project, due to be completed in 2015, would result in a  reduction of 50 cars for each bus that runs on the lane while moving 5 to 11 minutes faster than the cars on roads that have bus lanes.