Dubai RTA announces two new direct bus routes to Tecom Free Zones

The buses operating on the new routes can cut down the commuting time for office-goers within the free zones by almost 50 per cent. The timings of the two bus routes takes into account the peak hours.

Badr Al Gargawi, Chief Executive Officer of Engineering Management, Tecom Investments, said: "The introduction of two new bus routes not only complements the public transport facilities in our free zones, but also eases the parking challenges and traffic congestion. RTA's initiative is in line with Tecom management's efforts to provide on-going support to employees, students and business partners in the zone."

"We expect the two new routes to bring considerable benefits to passengers who can potentially put the saved travel time to good use. Needless to say, the public transport system can be a cost effective option compared to private transport operators."

The service comes as an immediate outcome of a survey that RTA conducted in collaboration with Tecom Investments in September-October 2011. From a sample size of over 800 workers and students, more than half said 'yes' to this bus service if provided.

Essa Abdulrahman Al Dosari, CEO of Public Transport Agency, said: "While plotting the new routes, we have taken into consideration the existing public transport facilities and the call for enhanced services from a particular area. We also study the outcomes of our survey prior to assigning new public bus routes. The newly rolled out routes 83 and 85 will primarily connect districts such as Karama and Discovery Gardens with some of the free zones at Tecom, namely the Dubai Internet City, Dubai Media City and Dubai Knowledge Village.

"A few months is always given to test out a newly introduced service. Thereafter, a required modification is proposed taking into consideration the performance of the route during this period. An increase or decrease in the frequency of buses is suggested depending upon the utilization. It can also include minor modifications to the route alignments to cover additional areas as per passengers' request."

The total population in the free zones is 39,700, comprising 31,800 individuals from working population and 7,900 students. According to the surveyed analysis of TECOM population, the majority of the population works between 8:00am and 7:00pm. The direct bus route has been planned to address the demands of peak working hours. The survey further revealed that a fair number of these employees and students are ready to use public transport system given a choice.