Affordability of public transport in the UAE

PicodiMarch 16, 2020

The importance of public transport is a hot topic not only in the United Arab Emirates but in the whole world. Rising traffic congestion and air pollution are concerns of many cities, keeping authorities awake at night. This is why public transport gains more recognition — it seems like an obvious solution to the problem, and in numerous cities, officials try to encourage commuters to use collective transport. Luxembourg, for example, has recently launched the world’s first free nationwide public transport, not only for its residents but also the tourists. On a smaller scale, various other places, like Tallinn in Estonia or Olympia in the United States, have introduced free public transport for their residents.

What keeps people from using public transport then? Despite its many advantages, some cities struggle to make public transport fast, convenient, and affordable. The price of the daily commute can convince or discourage a citizen from taking the local bus. This is why Picodi Analysis Team decided to examine the prices of monthly passes in the biggest cities of the world and contrast them with average wages to check their affordability.

Prices in selected cities worldwide

The ranking of public transport fares in various countries

The highest prices for a month of unlimited access to public transport were noted in London (around $259), Dublin ($213), and New York ($127). However, when taking into account the average monthly wage, the tables have turned for New York: it ranked 18^th out of 24 cities. It means that an average New Yorker could buy a monthly pass for bus and subway with just 2.4 per cent of his net pay.

Residents of Dubai, with the average net pay of 10,446 AED (Numbeo data as of March 2020), would have to spend 3.35 per cent of their hard-earned money on public transport pass which costs 350 AED. The variety of services included in the price may explain such amount: a monthly pass holder in Dubai can freely use the subway, tram, buses and water buses. In Sharjah, a commuter would have to pay 225 AED for unlimited access to buses, and 80 AED in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi.

It is the residents of São Paulo who are the worst off: they would have to spend more than 15 per cent of their monthly pay to freely ride public transport.

On the other side are residents of Zürich and Prague, who can enjoy affordable public transport for less than 2 per cent of their pay (1.37 and 1.84 per cent respectively). But the real winners of this ranking are commuters in Tallinn and Luxembourg, who can ride all public transport for free.

Methodology

The research was based on prices of single tickets and monthly passes collected from local public transport operators, as of March 2020. The average net wages in 39 cities considered in the international ranking come from numbeo.com. For the currency conversion, we used the average Google Finance rates for February 2020.

The ranking includes prices of single tickets and monthly passes that grant unlimited rides for all means of public transport within the city. In the single tickets comparison, the most advantageous price for the commuter was taken into consideration — purchased via mobile application or with the special commuter card (but excluding ticket booklets).

The study excludes cities where one specific mode of public transport is served by various operators with very different pricing policies (Tokyo, Beijing, Jakarta, Bangkok, and others).

The full list of countries and operators included in the research can be found under the following link.

Sources

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/articles/luxembourg-free-public-transport/
https://theconversation.com/traffic-congestion-reconsidered-111921
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/11/tallinn-experiment-estonia-public-transport-free-cities
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/09/move-olympia-washington-create-zero-fare-public-transit-called-beautiful-thing

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