Cut the cost of inter-Emirate commuting

SOME AED 40 billion ($10.9bn) is being invested in the UAE’s rail infrastructure to combat road congestion, cut down extended travel time and carbon emissions.

The Etihad Rail project, unveiled two years ago, promises to provide for 16,000 commuters travelling across major cities in one direction every hour, according to feasibility studies.

But until it is up and running, residents living in one emirate and working in another need other money-saving options for getting to the daily grind. cashy decided to investigate…

Carpooling

For gas guzzling nations in the GCC, carpooling might sound like a lofty ideal, but Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) launched an official carpool portal in 2008 to promote ridesharing as an environmentally and economically sustainable option the UAE.

According to the RTA, 541 in 1,000 Dubai residents own cars, with an average number of passengers per car being as low as 1.3.

Statistics coupled with personal experience of being stuck in traffic during peak hours should speak volumes regarding the effect of road congestion on quality of life and productivity.

Sharekni.ae is the RTA’s answer to combating congestion when it comes to commuting within city limits and beyond.

The online portal allows car owners to register up to four passengers to carpool with. Contributing towards shared expenses, such as petrol and car maintenance is expected, but accepting money for the commute itself would blur the line between carpool and private taxi, which is explicitly illegal, according to the RTA.

Potential savings

To calculate potential savings, you’ll need to establish your baseline for comparison. As an example, let’s say that I live in Dubai Marina but work in Abu Dhabi. Using the values of a standard fuel-efficient Honda Civic, this is how I can calculate my consumption and commuting expense.

Petrol Price (per litre): AED 1.76 (premium)

Fuel Consumption (litres per 100km): 6.7

Distance of commute (km, one way): 145

Number of commuting days per month: 20

Once I have these figures, simple mathematics will tell me that I spend 9.715 litres of petrol driving to Abu Dhabi in the morning, which translates to approximately AED 17.10. Over 20 working days, I would spend AED 684 on fuel for commuting to and from work.

With just one more person in the car with me, I could halve that amount. I could also halve the cost of servicing the car every 5,000kms, parking expenses, daily tolls and annual car registration fees.

Buses

While buses within Dubai tend to lose out to the efficiency of the metro, inter-Emirate buses reportedly commute more than one million passengers every month, and operate between 6am and 12am, with a frequency of 20 minutes on average.

For those opting to ‘park and ride,’ most bus depots offer parking spaces at the standard city-wide rate of AED 2 per hour (excluding 1-4 pm, when it’s free). Finding parking space near Al Ghubaiba, Union and Al Satwa stations can be difficult, so be prepared to park, walk and ride.

Premium parking rates apply to parking at malls with metro access (Deira City Centre, Mall of the Emirates), where the rate is free for the first four hours, and AED 20 every subsequent hour.

Here, cashy has compiled a handy table to help you plan your trip across the Emirates: 

Share your experiences of inter-Emirate travel with cashy… we’d love to hear your stories!