Metro rumours

As the Dubai Metro nears completion, a frequent topic of conversation is who will actually use it. Will it take cars off the road? Won't it be too hot to walk to for most of the year?

It's funny that on my recent trip to Istanbul I was all too happy to hop on the Metro instead of using cabs. And in London, even when I shun the tube, I love to take the bus...or, preferably, walk.

For Dubai Metro there are rumours of different carriages for women & children, upper class and workers. And we await with interest the revealing of a pricing strategy that must be make or break for the project.

In conversation with a colleague yesterday, he mentioned a theory that instead of reducing car ownership, the Metro will actually double it. Why? Because people will need one car to drive to the metro stop, and another to leave at their work stop to drive the rest of the way to the office.

Add to this a point on the radio today that low income earners might be banned from owning cars, and another rumour on the grapevine that the Government will raise Salik (the road toll) by a dirham on opening of the Metro...and it's clear that the country is yet again falling back on money as the disincentive tool of choice. Why not make it beneficial in ways not related to the wallet? Encourage people to walk, take exercise, enjoy the city instead of rushing past it at a 100k/h.