Nearly 151.1 million people used the public buses in Dubai last year with an average of 413,000 people using them per day, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Thursday.

According to Basel Ebrahim Sa’ad, director of Buses Department at the RTA, the bus tranport sector is witnessing steady growth and is increasingly becoming important in the daily movement of people between their workplaces and homes in the city.

“Such an increase is indicative of the growing culture of using public transport among community members, which is attributed to RTA’s keenness to provide spacious, sound and accurate bus services integrated with other mass transit means such as the metro, tram and marine transit modes,” Ebrahim Sa’ad said.

The RTA is focusing on improving transit-related facilities and having air-conditioned bus shelters dotting all parts of Dubai emirate including 100 smart shelters offering a diverse cast of smart services to the public.

The RTA is also seeking to raise the share of public transit means in people’s mobility in Dubai to as much as 30 per cent by 2030.

“Public transport means are the ideal means to ensure sustainable transport given the massive number of vehicles flooding streets and harmful gas emissions they cause.”

Ebrahim Sa’ad called on the public to use public transit means in order to conserve the environment and protect public health

source : gulfnews