Are Dubai bus stops big enough?

Public buses are probably the largest driving objects on city roads. As their drivers seamlessly zip through traffic, they even more skilfully park the large vehicle at the bus stops on the side of the road, from where they should, ideally, form no obstacle to the traffic on the road.

In most cases in Dubai, this seems to go well, but in some places, the layby designated for the bus just does not seem to offer enough space for the bus to drive in smoothly.

“Some of us have experienced this. At some locations in Dubai, it is difficult to park the bus in the right way, because the strip is very small,” narrates a bus driver in Dubai, naming Al Wasl Road as an example.

The problem has not gone unnoticed by road users either. Katrina Revik, a Serbian commuter in Dubai acknowledges: “I sometimes see bus stops where the bus is not entirely parked on the parking area. When a small part of the bus sticks out, this can be very dangerous.”

According to Katrina, Mankhool Road is another such area. “I have seen it twice this month. I passed by and had to go out of my way because the parked bus took a part of the busy lane.”

“In some cases, there are limitations but most of the bus stops are well designed,” says Essa al Hashmi, Director of Planning and Business Development at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

“Currently, the RTA is working on some up-gradation in various locations,” he continued, naming Mankhool Road, Abu Baker Al Sidiq Road and Al Quoz as some of the focus areas.

There is a different standard for the regular bus and the articulated bus, which has an additional compartment attached to the regular bus length. While some bus stops are designed for both, some are designed for the standard buses only, Essa explains.

“The minimum space for a bus stop is 15 meters, which is 25 per cent more than the overall length of the standard bus, thus allowing safe parking space. Access and egress are anticipated with a minimum length of 10 meters.

“The dimensions used for articulated buses are different; the overall length of parking space is increased to 20 meters. In some cases the length of the layby is increased to accommodate both articulated and standard buses.”

“The RTA has designed a standard design for the bus layby and criteria for the selection of different types of stops, such as the on-street bus stop, the dedicated layby and the bus terminals, Essa continues.

“The standard takes into account the dwell time that the bus takes to park and to board the passengers. Every bus stop can hold 45 bus departures per hour with a dwell time of 1.5 minutes.

According to Essa, no accidents have been recorded due to the limitation in space at a layby, and the bus stops are consistently checked with up-gradation.

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