Abu Dhabi Travel Patterns

Highlights of the 2009 Survey Results

Department of Transport
P.O.Box 20, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Tel: +971 2 656 6666, Fax: +971 2 635 9666
info@dot.abudhabi.ae www.dot.abudhabi.ae
Released 2012
Overview
This booklet provides a synthesis of information on
how people travel in Abu Dhabi Emirate. The data and
results are sourced from travel pattern surveys that
were carried out primarily in May 2009. Some key
findings and statistics from the 2009 travel pattern
surveys are presented here to show the travel
behaviour in Abu Dhabi Emirate.
The travel pattern survey was part of a larger project to
develop a new transportation model for Abu Dhabi
Emirate, the Strategic Transportation Evaluation and
Assessment Model (STEAM).
It is anticipated that Abu Dhabi will undergo significant
changes between now and 2030, the planning horizon
year. STEAM is used as a planning tool to evaluate
options and provide guidance on how to provide the
best transportation networks to accommodate
forecast increases in population, employment,
demographic shifts, and ongoing changes in how
people travel to, from and within the Emirate.
It was necessary, as part of development of STEAM, to
conduct travel pattern surveys to provide a
comprehensive baseline of current travel behaviour.
The surveys that were undertaken included:
- Household Residents Travel Diaries
- Workplace Travel Surveys
- Labour Camp Residents Travel Diaries
- Shopping Mall Visitors Travel Surveys
- Air Passenger and Accompanying Non Passenger
Travel Surveys
- Hotel Visitors Travel Surveys
- Hotel Guests Travel Diaries
- Roadside Interview Travel Surveys
- Traffic Counts
- Local Bus Passengers Travel Surveys
- Inter-Urban Bus Passengers Travel Surveys
This booklet provides highlights of the survey results.
Contents
Travel Patterns Key Findings 1
Emirate of Abu Dhabi Locations Map 2
Daily Weekday Person Trips Within Abu Dhabi Emirate 3
Daily Person Trips by Trip Purpose 4
Daily Person Trips by Travel Model 5
Weekday Person Trips by Travel Mode and Travel Purpose 6
Weekday Person Trips by Gender and Travel Mode 7
Weekday Person Trips by Gender and Trip Purpose 8
Average Weekday Trips Per Person by Age and Gender 9
Daily Number of Weekday Trips per Person by Mode
and Hour of Departure 10
Daily Number of Weekday Trips per Person by Purpose
and Hour of Departure 11
Mean Daily Time Spent Travelling by Age and Gender 12
Car Trip Journey Time Distribution 13
Average Car Travel Speeds by Region 14
Car Availability by Household Size 15
Urban Cordons Location Map 16
Daily Traffic Profile of Vehicles Crossing Urban Cordons 17
Inter-Regional Cordons Location Map 18
Daily Traffic Profile of Vehicles Crossing Inter-Regional
Cordons 19
Walk Trip Length Distribution by Gender 20
Freight Carried by Heavy Goods Vehicles 21
Number of Goods Vehicles Crossing Key Cordons 22
Modes of Travel to Airport by Departing Air Passangers 23
Hotel Arrivals by Category of User 24
Hotel Guests Travel Modes in Abu Dhabi  25
Arrival Travel Mode by Time of Day to Shopping Malls  26
Car Driving Licence Ownership by Age and Gender 27
The Trip Purposes of Local Bus Users 28
Summary 29
Symbols Legend

Car Motorcycle

TAXI Taxi Bicycle

Bus Walking (Male & Female)

LGV Male

HGV Female
Travel Patterns Key Findings

The travel pattern surveys were undertaken in May 2009. The -- The average length of time that a person spends travelling
study area included surveys across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is approximately 50 minutes per day,
including the greater Abu Dhabi metropolitan area, Al Ain and -- Personal vehicles are the preferred mode of travel,
Al Gharbia. accounting for more than half of all trips,
-- Car ownership data indicates that 12% of single person
Some key findings about how people travel in the Emirate of households, 69% of two person households, and 87% of
Abu Dhabi that were found through undertaking these travel three plus households in Abu Dhabi Emirate have access
pattern surveys are: to a car,
-- Across Abu Dhabi Emirate residents make 2.8 trips -- Across all car trips, the average time to find a parking
per weekday on average, where a trip refers to a single space ranges from 10.6 minutes in Abu Dhabi Central
direction trip, e.g. the trip from home to work. Travel from Business District to 2.2 minutes in Al Ain,
home to work, then to a shopping mall and home again is -- There are very few trips made by bicycle (0.2%) or
defined as 3 trips, motorcycle (0.1%),
-- The majority of trips are below 10km in length (60%), -- 39% of all trips are to usual place of work with a further
whereas the overall average trip length is 12.4km, 21% associated with education

1
 Emirate of Abu Dhabi Locations Map

Dubai

Abu Dhabi

Sir Bani Yas Island

Outer Abu Dhabi

Shanay Al Ain
Mirfa
Al Mirfa Rumaitha
Rest of Emirate Map is not to scale
Uwaisa

Ruwais Deep Salabikh Bab

Rumaitha South Arjan

Bida Al Qemzen

Madinat Zayed
Sahil
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Abu Dhabi
Bu Hasa

Sir Bani Yas Island

Asab
OMAN
Huwaila

Liwa Outer Abu Dhabi

Emirate of Abu Dhabi Map

Shanay
Mirfa
Al Mirfa Rumaitha
2 Rest of Emirate
Uwaisa
Daily Weekday Person Trips Within Abu Dhabi Emirate

The table to the right shows the number of daily trips made by household residents between different
locations of Abu Dhabi metropolitan area, Al Ain and the rest of the Emirate. It shows the location-to-
location trips but does not include trips made within the geographic locations. The highest number of trips
are between Abu Dhabi and Outer Abu Dhabi.

Location All Trips Location

Outer Abu Dhabi to/from 52,500 Al Ain

Daily Trips Outer Abu Dhabi to/from 64,300 Rest of Emirate

Abu Dhabi to/from 116,800 Al Ain

Abu Dhabi to/from 192,700 Rest of Emirate

Abu Dhabi

Rest of Emirate to/from 198,600 Al Ain Outer Abu Dhabi

Rest of Emirate
Abu Dhabi to/from 364,600 Outer Abu Dhabi
Al Ain
Note: locations in the table correlate to the locations in the map on page 2.
Source: 2009 Abu Dhabi Emirate Household Interview Survey

Note: A Person Trip refers to a single direction trip for one person

3
 Daily Person Trips by Trip Purpose

There are more than 4 million trips made on a daily basis within
Abu Dhabi Emirate by Emirate residents. The highest number
of trips are to and from the Usual Workplace with Education
having the second highest number of trips. The remainder of
the trips are split in reducing numbers into the remaining
126,000
categories; Shopping, Leisure/Recreation, Other Work Related 378,000
and Personal Business, and Other. 126,000

420,000
Usual Workplace 1,638,000

Education
Shopping
Leisure/Recreation 630,000

Other Work Related

Personal Business 882,000
Other

Source: 2009 Abu Dhabi Emirate Household Interview Survey

4
Daily Person Trips by Travel Mode

The majority of trips in Abu Dhabi are undertaken in private

cars either as a car driver or car passenger. They are followed
by walking, which are predominantly short distance trips (less
than 500m) and include travel to and from other destinations
such as usual work place, shops and mosques. The remaining
trips are made primarily by bus and taxi. 0.2%

19%

Car School Bus

12%
Walk
Bicycle 50%

School Bus
8%
Company Bus
Company Bus
Public Bus
Taxi 9%
Public Bus 1%

Motorcycle
Other Other 0.8% 0.1%

5
 Weekday Person Trips by Travel Mode and Trip Purpose

Table 5 Mode Share of Weekday Trips by Purpose

For all trip purposes except education, car is the most frequently used mode. For Usual Workplace and
Education trip purposes, company bus and school bus have a high proportion of mode share (20% and 50%
respectively) signifying their importance. For shopping trips, just under half are made by car with 23% by
taxi and 26% walk.

Other

Education

Personal Business Car

Taxi
Shopping
Bus
Leisure/ Recreation
Bicycle
Other Work Related
Walk
Usual Workplace Other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Source: 2009 Abu Dhabi Emirate Household Interview Survey

Car
6 Walk
 Weekday Person Trips by Gender and Travel Mode

Nearly 50% of men and 56% of women use a car as their main mode of travel. As a percentage of trips,
men (22%) walk nearly three times as much as women (8%). The reverse is true for school bus as a travel
mode with 8% and 24% use respectively for men and women.

Other 0.8% Other 0.7%

8%
School Bus 24%
22%
0.3%
24%

School Bus
49% 56%
8%

3%
Company Bus
9%
Company Bus
TAXI Public Bus 1%
8%
8%
Public Bus 1%

0.1%
7
 Weekday Person Trips by Gender and Trip Purpose

Men make more work related trips than any other trip purpose. The highest percentage of trips by purpose for women are
education trips. Shopping trips are a major trip purpose for both genders and comprises 14-19% of all trips.

9%
9% 1%
14%

16%

Usual Workplace 17%

47%
2%
Other Work Related 37%

Leisure/Recreation
14%
Shopping
Personal Business 19%
8%
Education
4% 3%
Other
Note: The other trip purpose category includes all purposes that cannot be
classified into the categories listed, such as walk trips to mosques.

8
Average Weekday Trips Per Person by Age and Gender

The 2009 survey data indicates that men and women to the predominant number of work trips. Whereas for
travel approximately the same amount when they are 18 women, the 18 and under age group makes the highest
years old and under. However, for men, the number of number of trips due to dominance of education as a trip
trips increases with age, while decreasing for women. purpose.
Men between the ages of 26 and 65 travel the most due
18 or
under

19-25

26-45

46-65

65+

18 or
under

19-25

26-45

46-65

65+

0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5

Daily Trips 9
 Daily Number of Weekday Trips per Person by Mode and Hour of Departure

There are three travel peaks each day. The most pronounced peak occurs in the hours starting 6:00 - 8:00
in the morning. The other peaks occur in the afternoon and evening. The afternoon peak occurs in the
hours of 13:00 - 14:00 and the evening peak 19:00 - 20:00.
600,000

500,000
of trips

400,000
of Trips

Other
Number

300,000
Walk
Number

Bus
200,000 Other
Taxi
Walk
Bicycle
Motorcycle
100,000 Bus
Car
Taxi
Motorcycle
Car
0
Source: 2009 Abu Dhabi Emirate Household Interview Survey
9:00
7:00
8:00
5:00
6:00
3:00
4:00
0:00
1:00
2:00

22:00
23:00
20:00
21:00
18:00
19:00
16:00
17:00
14:00
15:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00

Note:  graph includes some under reporting of mid morning

Hour Starting
Hour Starting trips due in part to school exams & H1N1 pandemic

10
Daily Number of Weekday Trips per Person by Purpose and Hour of Departure

The survey results confirm that the morning and afternoon peaks are primarily work and education
related trips, whereas the evening peak has a higher proportion of shopping and leisure trips.

600,000

Trips Purpose
500,000 Usual Workplace
Education
Shopping
trips

400,000
of Trips

Leisure/Recreation
Other Work Related
Other
Number of

Personal Business
300,000
Number

Education
Other

Personal Business
200,000
Shopping
Leisure/Recreation
100,000
Other Work Related
Usual Workplace
0 Source: 2009 Abu Dhabi Emirate Household Interview Survey
0:00

1:00

2:00

3:00

4:00

5:00

6:00

7:00

8:00

9:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00

20:00

21:00

22:00

23:00
Note:  graph includes some under reporting of mid morning

Hour
HourStarting
Starting trips due in part to school exams & H1N1 pandemic

11
 Mean Daily Time Spent Travelling by Age and Gender

Men between the ages of 46 to 65 years

18 or
spend on average almost 90 minutes under
travelling each day.
19-25

Women under the age of 18 years spend 26-45

on average 75 minutes each day
travelling. The same age group among 46-65
men spends a similar amount of time
65+
travelling.

18 or
under

19-25

26-45

46-65

65+

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Average Daily Travel Time - Minutes
Minutes
Note: The daily time spent travelling comprises all trips made during a day.

12
Car Trip Journey Time Distribution

The vast majority of car trips are from Daily Number

Daily Number of trips
of Trips
0-30 minutes in length, with more trips 0 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 300,000
taking 10-15 minutes than any other trip
duration. 0-5

5-10

These trip journey times are for single 10-15

one-way trips. The mean daily time spent 15-20

travelling is higher as it comprises all 20-25
trips made during a day.

(mins)
25-30

Time(mins)
30-35
time 35-40

40-45
Journey

45-50
Journey

50-55

55-60

60-65

65-70

70-75

75-80

80-85

85-90

13
 Average Car Travel Speeds by Region

The average car travel speed in Central Abu Dhabi is low throughout the day at around 20kph. Al Ain has
higher average speeds at around 28kph throughout the day. The highest average speeds are in Outer Abu
Dhabi of up to 35kph.

40

35

30
Average Speed (kph)

25

20

15

10
Outer Abu Dhabi
5
Al Ain

0 Central Abu Dhabi

07:00 - 12:00 12:00 - 18:00 18:00 - 23:00 23:00 - 07:00

Time of Day

14
 Car Availability by Household Size

The table below shows household size and percentage car availability. The data indicates that 12% of
single person households, 69% of two person households, and 87% of households with three or more
persons in Abu Dhabi Emirate have access to a car.
Share of households
Share
0% 10% 20%of30%
Households Car70%
40% 50% 60% Availiability
80% 90% 100%

1 Person Car availability 0

Car availability 1
2 People
Household Size

Car availability 2
Household Size

3-4 People
Car availability 3
Car availability 0
5-6 People Car availability
Car availability 14
Car
Car availability 25+
availability
7-8 People Car availability 3
Car availability 4
9+People Car availability 5+

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

15
 Urban Cordons Location Map

Central Abu Dhabi Cordon

ty
i Ci
ab
Dh
u
Ab Mid Abu Dhabi Cordon

Outer Abu Dhabi Cordon

Madinat Khalifa A
Al Ain
Mussafah Cordon
Shanay

Rumaitha Mussafah Mohammed

Industrial Area Bin Zayed City

Al Ain Cordon Location

Rumaitha South Arjan

Abu Dhabi Cordons Locations Map is not to scale

Sahil
16 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Daily Traffic Profile of Vehicles Crossing Urban Cordons

The highest number of trips are on the Central and Mid Abu Dhabi cordons, with more vehicles crossing the Mid Abu
Dhabi cordon in the morning peak and approximately equal vehicles crossing the Mid and Central Abu Dhabi cordons
in the afternoon and evening hours.
35000

30000

25000
Number of Trips

20000

15000

Mid Abu Dhabi Cordon

10000
Central Abu Dhabi Cordon
Outer Abu Dhabi Cordon
5000
Mussafah Cordon
Al Ain Cordon
0
6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00
Time of Day
17
 Inter-Regional Cordons Location Map

Dubai

Highway E11 - Abu Dhabi to Dubai

Highway E66 - Al Ain to Dubai

Abu Dhabi

Highway E22 - Abu Dhabi to Al Ain

Highway E11 - Abu Dhabi to Western Region

Map is not to scale

18
Daily Traffic Profile of Vehicles Crossing Inter-Regional Cordons

The highest number of regional trips occur between Abu Dhabi-Dubai. A similar number of trips occur between
Al Ain-Abu Dhabi and between Al Ain-Dubai. Fewer trips occur between Abu Dhabi-Western Region.

8000

7000

6000

5000
Number of Trips

4000

3000

Highway E11 Abu Dhabi to Dubai

2000

Highway E22 Abu Dhabi to Al Ain

1000
Highway E66 Al Ain to Dubai
0 Highway E11 Abu Dhabi to Western Region
6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 13:00 14:00 15:00 16:00 17:00 18:00 19:00 20:00 21:00 22:00

Time of Day
19
 Walk Trip Length Distribution by Gender

Most walking trips are less than 1000m in length, with a higher percentage of walk trips less than 1000m
for women than for men. For women 69% of walking trips are less than 1km, whereas for men 54% are less
than 1km.

12%

10%
Walk Trip Frequency

8%

6%

4%

2%

0%
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000

Trip Length (m)

20
Freight Carried by Heavy Goods Vehicles

Figure 69 Heavy Goods Vehicle Commodity Share (Road Freight Movements in Abu Dhabi Emirate)

The largest commodity group carried by heavy goods vehicles

as freight is construction materials which accounts for 33% of
loads. The second largest commodity group, Other Goods,
includes manufactured goods, machinery, domestic and
industrial waste, general foodstuffs (shop deliveries), and
non-food goods for delivery. The Bulk Non-Oil category
includes fertilizers, water tankers, metal ores, chemicals and
solid mineral fuels. The remainder of the freight is split 33% Construction Material
2% Fresh Vegetable
between Container, Oil Based Products, and Produce (Fresh 1% Live Stock Empty
Vegetables, Live Stock, and Meat). 9% of vehicle loads were 1% Meat
Oil Base
empty. Contain
17% Bulk Non-Oil
Bulk No
Constru
Fresh V
29% Other Goods Live Sto
Meat
Other
5% Container 9% Empty

2% Oil Based Products

21
 Number of Goods Vehicles Crossing Key Cordons

Freight movements are classified by the vehicle type LGV (Light Goods Vehicles) and HGV (Heavy Goods
Vehicles). LGV comprise goods vehicles with two axles, whereas HGV are all goods vehicles with three or
more axles. The highest number of freight movement trips occur across the Mussafah cordon. There are a
similar number of freight movement trips across Central and Outer Abu Dhabi cordons whilst the Al Ain
cordon has the lowest number of trips.

Cordon Location Morning Hour Inter-peak Period Afternoon Hour

07:00 - 08:00 Average Hour 18:00 - 19:00 24 Hours
Average two way LGV/HGV
trips crossing cordon

Central Abu Dhabi 4,300 3,300 3,300 55,600

Outer Abu Dhabi 4,900 3,300 3,200 57,800

Mussafah 5,700 4,700 5,800 83,600

Al Ain 1,800 1,800 1,700 29,800

Note: Cordon locations are shown on location map on page 16.

22
 Modes of Travel to Airport by Departing Air Passengers

The majority of residents and business travellers go to the airport by personal car either as a driver or
passenger, whereas the majority of tourists take a taxi to the airport. The only category of departing air
passengers that arrived at the airport by bus were expatriate residents.
100%

90% Mode Share

80%

70%
% of Daily Passengers

TAXI
Daily Passengers

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%
Bus
10%
Taxi
0%
Car
National Expatriate Business Tourists staying Tourists staying
Resident Resident travellers with friends or In hotel
relatives
23
 Hotel Arrivals by Category of User

Guests/Visitors make up the largest share of people making trips to hotels at 54%, and the highest
proportion of the arrivals are expatriate residents at 43% of all arrivals. A further 34% are people on
employers business, while only 2% of trips to hotels were by tourists.

Person Type and Proportion of Arrivals

National Expatriate
Visiting
Guests/Visitors

living in resident in Business

Relatives / Tourist ALL
Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi traveller
Friends
Emirate Emirate

4% 43% 2% 3% 2% 54%

All Residents living in ALL

Workers

Abu Dhabi Emirate

12% 12%

All persons arriving for business, that are not

Employers

hotel employees, such as seminar or ALL

Business

conference attendees

34% 34%

24
 Hotel Guests Travel Modes in Abu Dhabi

The main mode of travel for hotel guests while in Abu Dhabi is by car. Hotel guests that are visiting friends
and relatives have a much higher share of trips by car. Car is also the dominant mode of travel for business
guests andTable 35 Mode
tourists butofthey
Hotelhave
GuestaArrival
moreinequally
Abu Dhabi Emirate by Visit
distributed share Purpose
of the other modes with taxi and bus
combined making up approximately 50% of their mode of travel.

Business
Purpose of Visit to Abu Dhabi

TAXI

Visiting
Friends &
Relatives

Car
Taxi
Tourism
Bus
Walk

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Mode Share Percent
25
 Arrival Travel Mode by Time of Day to Shopping Malls

There are two definitive peaks in the time of day when people arrived at shopping malls. The two hours
starting at 11:00 in the morning, and then the hour starting at 18:00 in the late afternoon, with a lesser
peak also occurring atMode
Table 41 20:00
Sharein the evening.
of Arrivals Over
at Shopping Malls and10,000 shoppers
Commercial were surveyed making trips to the 5
Area in Abu Dhabi
shopping malls in each of these peak periods. Car as a mode followed by taxi are the main modes of travel
to the shopping malls.
14,000

12,000 TAXI

10,000
Arrivals
Total Arrivals

8,000
Car
Walk
Total

6,000
Bicycle
Bus

4,000 Walk
Taxi
Motorcycle
Bus
Other
2,000
Taxi

0
Car
09:00

10:00

11:00

12:00

13:00

14:00

15:00

16:00

17:00

18:00

19:00

20:00

21:00

Time of Day - of
Time Hour Starting
Day - Hour Starting

26
Car Driving Licence Ownership by Age and Gender

Figure 51 Car Driving Licence Ownership by Age and Gender

The proportion of the population with a car driving licence is higher amongst males than females in all the
age bands. For males the percentage also increases with age and the majority of males over 26 have
licenses.

18 or
under

19-25
No Car Driving Licence
26-45
With Car Driving Licence
46-65

65+

18 or
under

19-25

26-45
Males with Driving Licence
46-65
Females with Driving Licence
65+
No Driving Licence (Male & Female)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

27
 The Trip Purposes of Local BusFigure
Users
62 Trip Purpose of Local Bus Users

Just over half of trips made by local bus users are work related with the majority of
these being people travelling to their usual workplace. The next highest shares are
going for shopping and on personal business.

1% Education

6%
Personal Business Other

13%

32% Usual Workplace

19% Shopping

21% Other Work Related

8%

Leisure/Recreation

28
Summary

The travel surveys  provided a useful

insight into travel patterns in the Emirate
of Abu Dhabi. The information from the
travel surveys has been instrumental in
the development of the Department of
Transport’s long range strategic
transportation planning model, STEAM.
This model is a valuable tool used for the
assessment and evaluation of transport
proposals and long range planning to
accommodate future growth of the Abu
Dhabi Emirate.

29