Dubai to get dedicated bus lanes

From May 1 four roads in Dubai will have lanes set aside solely for buses and taxis, with fines for other motorists who venture into them.

DUBAI // Dedicated bus and taxi lanes are to be introduced in Dubai, starting from May 1. In total only 5.6km of bus lanes will be introduced on four roads: Al Mankhool Road will have 1,400 metres of bus lane, Al Khaleej Road will have 3,600 metres, on Khalid bin al Waleed Road there will be 220 metres of dedicated bus lane and Al Ghubaiba Road will get 320 metres of bus lane. The bus lane along Al Mankhool Road will run from Satwa roundabout up to Sheikh Rashid Road. Al Khaleej Road will have a bus lane that will run from its intersection with Khalid bin Al Waleed Road to as far as Al Musalla Road, which is opposite the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The bus lane along the notoriously congested Khalid bin Al Waleed Road will run from the intersection with Al Mina Road up to Road 16.  In Al Ghubaiba Road the bus lane will run from the intersection with Al Mina Road as far as Road 12. Mattar al Tayer, chief executive of the emirate's road transport authority, said the bus lanes would cut journey times by five minutes and would cut the bus department's operational costs by Dh10.4 million a year.

Motorists will be fined Dh600 for using the lane and police will enforce the rule 24 hours a day. "Launching dedicated bus lanes is actually an offshoot of the fourth strategic goal of the RTA to encourage the use of mass transportation," Mr al Tayer said. He said that taxis from other emirates would be able to use the lanes. [e-mail]