Dubai is the Middle East's most congested city with a growing number of cars overwhelming the transport system, a study said on Saturday.Well what do you know ... it really is the City of Superlatives!Commuters in Dubai, a Gulf Arab trading and tourism hub, spend nearly two hours in
their cars per day, often in bumper-to-bumper traffic, recruitment company GulfTalent.com said.
Spiraling rents in the emirate, where population growth is outpacing the supply of housing, are pushing people to cheaper areas farther away from the centre of town, raising commuting time, GulfTalent said.
Spending on transport infrastructure in Dubai and other Gulf countries has lagged investments in more glamorous mega projects, such as a tower in Dubai that developers say will be the world's largest when complete next year, the study said.
The 15-kilometer commute from the neighboring UAE emirate of Sharjah, where many expatriates live, takes an average of two hours and 44 minutes roundtrip despite two express highways, GulfTalent said.
Dubai's average total daily commuting time was one hour and 45 minutes, resulting in reports of stress and fatigue among drivers.
Dubai is planning to spend at least 75 billion dirhams ($20.42 billion) over the next five years building roads, bridges and a metro system.
11 July, 2007
Dubai Most Congested City in Middle East
Not sure if this has been posted before, but I really thought Cairo was the most congested city in the Middle East!
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4 comments:
Dubai always has 2 type of people:
1-people have a DL & can buy for car ,and all of them have cars.
2-people who don't have DL or can't buy for car, but they work very hard to can have that to get a car.
when a new one put his leg in dubai 1st thing to do is to have DL & have a car!
I think 80% of Dubai cars carry only one (the driver)
that is the main problem in Dubai no public transportation and no good improvements for it ,oh you'll say metro is coming ,guess what, it will not solve the major traffic problem which is between shj& Dubai
Dubai will always need other emarites cuz there is no enough accommodations in dubai.
If new people continue coming to Dubai(and they'll do) So be ready for more & more traffic.
I smiled at this article -- i just arrived in Dubai 2 weeks ago and will be here for a few more.. and I don't have a driver's license, contrary to, well, most people I know! I do however have the luxury of taking cabs, rather than the sad buses which seem to be very intermittent and probably don't serve a large area anyway..
But there's also something about the design of the city that is very pro-car, and pedestrian/mass transportation unfriendly. You cannot, for instance, cross a major street; there are few intersections and you'd need to ride a couple of kms to the next U-turn. This kind of things.
Dubai wasn't designed for this amount of people and for this type of traffic. So now, they'll either HAVE to alter things somehow -- or Dubai will simply be less attractive and more of a 'pain' of a city.
Mohamed said...
Well said. Your observation is very correct. Most new comers only see the glittering facades. Now go step further and check the air pollution due to the traffic apart from the dust. Car pooling is not allowed nor are you allowed to give a lift to anyone stranded on the road.
Cheers.
My wife and I are thinking about moving to Dubai and when I see posts like this it makes me think a little more about it and think about whether or not it will be worth it. We dont want to go to place where we are going to be 'stressed'. Its not putting us off the idea. Its good to try new things and new places for yourself regardless of what people may say.
Gerri
Show Me The Money
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