Metro helped cut 341,000 tonnes of CO2
ON PUBLIC TRANSPORT DAY TODAY, RTA REVEALS HOW DUBAI METRO AND TRAM TOGETHER CUT 343,000 TONNES OF CARBON EMISSIONS IN 2017
More residents are switching from cars and helping Dubai reduce up to 943 tonnes of carbon emissions every day |
Dubai Metro’s increasing popularity has meant that more people are switching from cars to trains for their daily commute, helping Dubai reduce up to 943 tonnes of carbon emissions every day.
According to the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), which celebrates Dubai’s ninth Public Transport Day today, Dubai Metro helped reduce 341,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2017, enough to light up 46,000 homes for an entire year.
As the RTA celebrates its 13th anniversary today with a series of activities and prizes designed to encourage more people to choose mass transit means for their daily travel, we offer you an insight into the impact its biggest project has had so far.
“Dubai Metro is an environmentally-friendly means of transport. RTA has implemented a number of measures to make the stations and other facilities environmentally friendly as well. Design and implementation of the metro stations’ thermal insulation systems take advantage of the movement of the sun and shade to regulate the energy consumed for air conditioning and lighting,” said a senior RTA official.
Since its launch in September 2009, the world’s largest driverless train network has served 1.2 billion riders, transporting around 550,000 passengers daily.
Apart from
commuters in 2017
commuters this year
helping people PUBLIC TRANSPORT switch from cars to trains, the metro also boasts of several other green features including energy efficient escalators in the stations that come to a stop when not in use, while the train itself runs on electricity, the usage of which is regulated automatically with the changing speed of the trains, helping reduce power consumption.
Another interesting sustainable feature of the metro is that the electricity generated from the trains’ braking is also fully re-used. Apart from saving CO2, the metro’s eco-friendly features also helped save 86 million litres of water, while saving Dh4.8 million last year.
With the increasing popularity, the metro’s daily ridership has seen a steep rise over the last nine years.
“The number of daily average passengers has jumped from 61,000 at its launch on 09.09.09 to over 550,000 by the end of 2017, compared with about 523,000 riders in 2016, providing affordable public transport and improving the traffic conditions,” said the official.
Catering to the growing demand, the RTA is currently carrying out an extention of the Dubai Metro, with a 15km line
people use Dubai Metro on average daily. The metro has carried 1.2m people since 2009
people use Dubai Tram on average daily
cost savings in 2017
branching out from Nakheel Harbour and Tower Station on the Red Line.
Construction works on all Route 2020 metro viaducts are scheduled for completion in the second half of November, while the first of the new Dubai Metro trains is expected to arrive in Dubai later this month.
The trial run of the trains will start in February 2020, while the new route expected to open to the public by March 2020.
Dubai’s public transport system has become the backbone of mobility in the city, serving 551 million riders in 2017, with the public transit share touching 17 per cent last year.