By Rohma Sadaqat/Dubai www.khaleejtimes.com
You know you’re stuck in Dubai-Sharjah traffic when the radio starts playing the top 50 song hits, and you get to hear all 50 of them, said Tabassum Rajput.
A makeup artist, who travels to Dubai from Sharjah for work every other day, Rajput told KT she usually hangs around in Dubai till traffic “normalises” before heading home. Social media may be filled with funny posts on getting stuck – morning and evening – in jams, but residents are a frustrated lot.
A driver commuting between Sharjah and Dubai spends an average of 20 hours a week in traffic – more than 80 hours a month, and close to 1,000 hours a year.
The economic cost
According to the Dubai Statistical Center, Dubai’s population was around 2.4 million in 2014. The Road and Transport Authority of Dubai (RTA) estimates there are 540 vehicles registered per 1,000 residents in Dubai. This ratio is one of the highest in the world.
The RTA also believes there are approximately 1.4 million vehicles registered in the city, and that Dubai has a Travel Time Index (TTI) of 1.69 (TTI measures average time in peak hours in comparison to off-peak hours: higher the index, higher the congestion). According to RTA, in 2014, traffic congestion cost Dubai’s economy around Dh4.6 billion in lost time and fuel. More info
