Here’s a breakdown of budgets as revealed by residents living on their own, families and couples
With two new Salik gates announced in Dubai, residents are now taking stock of their expenditure on transport and assessing their options. While there is no denying the convenience and time savings offered by driving a car, Dubai’s public transport offers an affordable way to travel around the city without traffic and parking hassles.
media spoke to car owners and public transport users to understand their choices, difference in monthly expenditures and convenience. We managed to get a public transport vs car breakdown as detailed by two residents living on their own, two families and two couples.
Expenditure: Dh1,800 per month
For Lebanese expat Noel Pselis, monthly spend on his car varies according to several factors. Living in Oud Metha and working from his office in JAFZA twice a week, Noel spends an average Dh1,800 per month on his car. “Most of the expense comes from maintenance, insurance and petrol,” he said.
“I spend about Dh500 on petrol and Dh200 on Salik. On the days I go to office, Salik currently costs me Dh24 a day. With the new Salik gates, that is definitely going up.”
According to him, in the last six months, he had to spent Dh1,800 on car registration and Dh2,500 on car maintenance. However, he would not consider swapping his car for public transport. “Having a car gives you a lot of freedom,” he said. “The expenses are part of that and I am willing to spend for that kind of freedom.”
Transport option: Public, company car
Expenditure: Dh350 per month
Sudanese expat Mazza arrived in the UAE 10 months ago and has been relying completely on public transport to get her out and about. “I used to live in Arjan, from where I used to take a bus to the Mall of the Emirates. From there, I would take the Metro to work. It was extremely convenient. Then, I moved to Dubai Marina and JVC but I pick each place depending on its connectivity. While at Dubai Marina, I used to use the tram to get to the Metro and then plan my onward journey.”
Her life changed when she discovered the monthly pass. “I used to use the silver card,” she said. “But since I found out about the monthly pass, I take that depending on where I need to go. Some months, I take the pass that allows me unlimited travel between two zones, which costs me Dh240 and at other times, I buy the Dh350 pass which allows me travel across all zones without any limits.”
As a real estate agent, Mazza needs to travel around a lot but she uses the company car for that. “I don’t have a driving licence, so the company has given me a car and a driver when I need to go for viewings,” she said. “But I try to mostly carpool with my colleagues when I go out. For my personal use, I only use public transport and avoid taking taxis. So, the maximum I spend in a month for transport is Dh350.”
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