As many as 296 million riders have used public, shared transport and taxis in the first half of this year in Dubai.

The number reflects a healthy 6.5 per cent growth rate from the figure recorded in the same period last year, which was 277 million riders.

The average daily ridership of mass transit means during the first six months of this year amounted to 1.6 million riders.

Reflecting on the statistics, Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the board of executive directors at the Roads & Transport Authority, Dubai, said: “March was the busiest month during the first half of the year attracting about 53 million riders of public transport means.

The breakdown of ridership in March was as following: 18 million riders used Dubai Metro, 15.7 million riders used taxis, 14.3 million riders used public buses, 3.2 million riders used shared transport (e-Hail and smart car rental), 1.3 million riders used marine transit modes and 555,000 riders used the tram service.

“January was the second busiest month recording 52 million riders, and the monthly average number of riders during the remaining four months ranged between 45-50 million riders,” he added.

He added: “Dubai Metro has accounted for the highest number of public and shared transport users amounting to (34 per cent), followed by taxis (30 per cent), and public buses (27 per cent).

“Dubai Metro Red and Green Lines have lifted 102 million riders during the first half of this year (66 million riders for the Red Line and 36 million riders for the Green Line),” revealed Al Tayer.