Communicate

Print

E-mail

RSS Feeds

Add Comment

“Can I have two return tickets to Union Square station, please?”

“Certainly. Would you like Regular or Gold class?”
 
 “Um... how much is Regular?”
 
“Six dirhams each.”
 
“And how much is Gold?”
 
“It’s double the price.”
 
“Okay, we’ll take Gold please.”
 
“That’ll be 40 dirhams.”
 
So the launch of the Dubai Metro has not gone without a few glitches. From the dubious arithmetic of the ticket office to the delay in all but 10 of the planned 29 stations on the Red Line, Dubai is finding out the hard way that mass transit is not a simple science.

That hasn’t stopped the entire emirate going crazy for the Metro, however. Three days after the official launch, Communicate headed for the local station to ride the railroad and find out what all the fuss is about. And we weren’t alone. At Mall of the Emirates station there were enough prospective passengers to warrant rudimentary attempts at crowd control, with Police and RTA staff attempting to protect an overwhelmed ticket office from throngs of eager customers.

Cynical observers will shake their heads at all this excitement. It’s just a train, they will tut, pointing out that the system’s opening journeys have been marred by delays, technical difficulties and overcrowding; that the number of open stations is inadequate; that the ticketing system is confusing to those with no experience of metro or tube travel; and more criticisms besides. And, in many ways, they’re right. By now we have all heard a horror story or two from those who attempted to use the Metro in the first few weeks.

The skeptical viewpoint seems to be shared by the region’s marketers. Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) found ad buyers and purchasers surprisingly thin on the ground in the buildup to the Metro’s launch. Did it price itself out, or are brands doubtful about the benefits of a Metro ad investment?

Whatever the reason, on Communicate’s visit the only ads visible anywhere on the Metro – or in the stations – were from National Geographic, Sony Ericsson, and Kassab Media (Kassab was advertising the advertising space itself). Perhaps it’s a sign of the times; marketers are currently very wary of large spends, and maybe some are as unconvinced as other Metro-skeptics – it seems fashionable to talk ambitious projects down in today’s frugal times.

They may all, however, be missing a trick. Yes, the Metro has had rough birth. But since opening it has instantly become Dubai’s No. 1 attraction. Hundreds of thousands of people have ridden the Red Line already. That’s a significant percentage of Dubai’s population, and these are not tourists but residents in the city. In other words, they are exactly the consumers many companies are desperate to reach.

On board the Metro, in spite of the shortage of seats, the slow journey times (thanks to unnecessarily long stops at stations), and the queues for tickets, almost everyone is smiling. Kids are shouting out the names of buildings and the signs they see, delighted at the adventure. Adults are taking pictures, posing by the windows as they laugh and joke and enjoy the ride.

How long will the novelty last? How long before this good will toward the Metro evaporates? Who knows. Perhaps not long, particularly if the issues of reliability and journey time aren’t quickly ironed out. But the Metro itself is here to stay, and it’s the beginning of a new public transport infrastructure in Dubai that is set to grow and grow. Goodwill or no, people will use it. In London, the Underground is universally loathed for overcrowding and unpleasantness, but as a means of getting around the city it is without parallel, and it is packed daily. And for those who haven’t used the London system, you may already have guessed: it is crammed with advertising.

So the cynics can shake their heads all they like; it’s the public that marketers should be concerned with. And if the first days and weeks are anything to go by, the Dubai public is on board with the Metro.

Ultimately, this is a mass transit system; marketers wanting to reach that mass would be advised not to dismiss the Metro too readily.

Print

E-mail

RSS Feeds

Add Comment