Source: RTA annual report

Dubai’s metro system has radically reduced the city’s congestion problems and secured its position as the region’s leading convention and business hub. Its example should be adopted everywhere.

By Jawad J. Abbassi

The metro’s passenger numbers are equally as impressive. Last year, it carried over 164 million passengers, up 19 percent from 2013. Passenger numbers exceeded 44 million in the first quarter of 2015, growing by 9 percent over the same period in 2014.

Assuming one round trip per passenger per day, one can deduce that the metro served 225,078 unique passengers per day in 2014, and 243,133 unique passengers per day in the first three months of 2015, which amounts to 10.45 percent of Dubai’s population of 2.326 million people by the end of 2014.

The Dubai Metro is an engineering marvel. As one of its frequent users, I am constantly impressed by its spotless, luxurious air-conditioned stations and its driverless trains. I also love how its platforms are closed from the tracks by doors that only open when the trains arrive, offering security measures not present in most other city metro systems.

The metro’s passenger numbers are equally as impressive. Last year, it carried over 164 million passengers, up 19 percent from 2013. Passenger numbers exceeded 44 million in the first quarter of 2015, growing by 9 percent over the same period in 2014.

Assuming one round trip per passenger per day, one can deduce that the metro served 225,078 unique passengers per day in 2014, and 243,133 unique passengers per day in the first three months of 2015, which amounts to 10.45 percent of Dubai’s population of 2.326 million people by the end of 2014.

The metro’s effect in reducing street congestion in Dubai is very clear. Assuming one daily round trip per passenger, and two passengers per car, the metro reduced car traffic by over 243,000 car-trips (or 121,500 car round trips) every day in the first quarter of 2015.

Reportedly, the metro still hasn’t broke even since it was launched in 2009. But Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority expects this to happen by 2017. Still, the metro offers many positive economic externalities to Dubai’s economy which justifies the massive cost. For example, Dubai received 13.2 million tourists in 2014, up from 11 million in 2013, a growth rate of 20 percent.

A big segment of these tourists are conferences and exhibitions attendees. The World Trade Center, which hosts most big exhibitions in Dubai, has a metro station that carried 3.76 million passengers in 2014, up from 2.67 million passengers in 2013 (a growth rate of 40 percent). This busy metro station that serves the exhibitions hub in the city underpins Dubai’s attraction as the leading exhibitions hub in the region.

I recall that, before the metro was set up, delegates of GITEX wanting to leave the annual technology show had to wait hours for a taxi, and would then quickly get stuck in a massive traffic jam.

Tourism is also another clear beneficiary. The metro stations at Dubai International Airport served over 5 million passengers in 2014. Moreover, five metro stations that cater to Dubai’s mega malls served close to 20 million passengers in 2014, reducing pressure on parking spaces and reducing street congestions.

Businesses benefit, too. The metro stations serving the business hubs of Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City, and Dubai Financial Center carried over 22 million passengers in 2014, up from 19.9 million in 2013—a growth rate of 12 percent.

Clearly, a state of the art public transport system is a massive and expensive undertaking. The relatively long payback period of such infrastructure investments, coupled with their clear positive external benefits, make them ideal candidates for long-term public sector investment.

Dubai Metro will serve the city’s population and visitors for decades, and will eventually generate a positive return on investment as a stand-alone project. Yet its contribution to business and tourism-related sectors already benefit the economy and enhance government tax receipts.

Finally, a successful public transit system allows any city to grow sustainably with less pollution and congestion problems. Dubai Metro’s success story should be a case study for Amman and other cities already suffering from traffic congestion.