Why Dubai is giving away nine pounds of gold to people who ride the bus
On November 1st, Dubai will celebrate its Public Transport Day. In an attempt to lure people out of their automobiles – and we do mean plural; the country has an average 2.3 cars per family – the emirate’s transport authority is giving away 4 kg (or about 9 lbs.) of gold.
Dr. Yousuf Al Ali, representative of the Roads and Transport Authority, says that the weeklong event aims to stir citizens to “shun reliance on private vehicles and switch to using public transport.”
And it’s not just gold bullion that’s up for grabs. In total, the prizes are worth one million dirham ($272,000) and include a street-ball tournament featuring the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, in attendance.
… In Dubai, where standstill traffic is endemic and only 13% of residents use public transport, the gold is up for grabs for anyone with a Dubai travel card.
It might seem a bit funny that this type of “marketing” happens here, but statistics that you come across and publish definitely don’t tell the whole story.
First of all, public transit in Dubai and Abu Dhabi has been around for about 6 to 10 years only and the ridership is increasing quickly. What has been achieved in such a short time is actually quite impressive.
Second, even before the existence of public transit many trips were made by company buses. Even today, many companies provide bus, minibus or van transportation for their employees. Statistics about car ownership are definitely not very reliable since often, only nationals are included in the surveys.
In any case, catchy headline.
Went to Dubai bout a year ago. Indeed very impressive train: fully A/C even in 45 degree heat, almost 50 km long .. very fast and very clean. Separate train cars for women, too.
Some areas in Dubai are like Yaletown or Coal Harbour .. plus 20-30 degrees warmer of course .. but built along artificial marinas with podium plus highrises and separate bike/ped path .. pleasant from Nov to March .. but of course the heat from April to October is unbearable.
Cheap cabs too .. due to cheap untaxed gasoline and cheap imported labour .. a ride that might cost $35 (say airport to UBC) might cost $8-10 only. As such many cabs are used and also clog the road. No road tolls and as such many many cars on the road too.
An impressive city to visit ..
Thomas, you are correct that gasoline and labour are both cheap here, but as a matter of fact, Dubai does have road tolls. The busiest road in the city – Highway E11 or the Sheikh Zayed has a toll. It is still relatively cheap compared to many European road tolls, but it is in place and does give the government some income to finance road construction and maintenance.
Another thing that is pretty interesting is that since moving to this part of the world, my body has aclimatized to the weather conditions and I definitely find that you can walk/cycle here well into May and June. We have outdoor activities throughout the summer in the evenings. In a way, it is like Canada in terms of prohibitive weather, but a bit better since you won’t freeze to death if you are out a bit too long.
Fair enough. I walked there in Decemer and often found that too hot in the afternoon. Summers must be unbearable. And the associated A/C costs ? How long will the dream last ? How much oil is left ? I hear some of the emirates are already dry. A city built on a sandy foundation, literally.
Disneyland for adults. No democracy. Two tier gender system. Two tier citizen system. Enjoy Sisneyland while it is still shiny.
This is a joke! Extracting 4kg of gold consumes approximately 17 thousand liters of diesel. Enough to take a VW Golf TDI 540,000 kilometres (from Vancouver to Dubai & back 24 times, as the crow flies).