Water-Transit Services in Dubai-UAE: User and Operator Survey Development and Quantitative Analysis

The Marine Agency-Roads and Transport Authority (MA-RTA) of Dubai-UAE is currently undertaking a study to develop a new transport policy for service delivery. The goal of the new policy is to increase rider share and use of MA-RTA services. To attain this goal, a five-year service policy will be adopted to establish modern, cost-effective, and efficient services to attract higher ridership. An integral part of the development of the policy is to assess baseline conditions, particularly user and operator opinions of current services. This paper focuses on developing user and operator survey questionnaires and providing quantitative statistical analyses of survey results. The majority of the assessment tools for the operations practice indicated acceptable levels of services. However, there is a need for a reduction of trip fares, better facilities at the stations, and a broader survey to identify prospective users and attraction methods to the marine services. In addition, development of a database for the marine transport system could assist in better planning, operational, and management aspects of the system. Journal of Public Transportation, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2010 94 Introduction The Marine Agency-Roads and Transport Authority (MA-RTA) of Dubai-UAE is currently developing its service delivery policy. The overall goal of the new policy is to increase the rider share or use of MA-RTA services and to provide quality marine transport services that meet the needs of the riding public. To attain that goal, MA-RTA will adopt a five-year service policy for the establishment of modern, cost-effective, and efficient services to attract higher ridership. Several previous studies showed how ferry services could be financially viable (Ceder 2006; Melissa and Michael 2007). Furthermore, Lai and Lo (2004) developed a ferry fleet management model and solution algorithm to optimize ferry fleet size, ferry routing, and service schedules for both direct and multi-stop services in Hong Kong. MA-RTA has two types of public marine transport services in Dubai Creak: Abra and Waterbus. These two marine transport modes share some characteristics, but differ mainly in the comfort level of service, fare, and loading or capacity utilization. Some basic information of these services is listed in Table 1. Abra service is operated by individual operators in two routes (R1 and R2 in Figure 1). Waterbuses are operated by a private firm on four routes (B1-B4 in Figure 1). Nonetheless, MARTA oversees all marine services by setting legislation, operation codes, planning services, and licensing. An integral part of the development of the service policy of MA-RTA is to involve the public in the planning process in a consistent, fair, and thorough manner (MBTA 2006). Moreover, system monitoring and feedback are critical components in the planning and decision making processes (Pickrell and Neumann 2000). No study has been conducted to assess the current conditions of marine transport services in Dubai. Thus, one of the objectives of this study was to assess the baseline performance of MA-RTA services and suggest measures for higher efficiency. Odeck and Brathen (2009) conducted a similar type of study in Norway to demonstrate the performance evaluation and improvement of ferries serving the road network. These authors presented causes of inefficiency and ways to improve the system. In general, the literature on issues of relevance to water-transit operations and planning is rather limited and quite diverse. Predicting ferry ridership historically has been difficult because water-transit riders often choose their travel mode based on factors other than travel time and cost (Outwater et al. 2003). Watertransit has been addressed as an element of the overall intermodal connectivity matrix (Russell and Eugene 1999). Issues of intermodal connectivity were par-