Staff Reporter www.khaleejtimes.com
DUBAI – Transactions using Nol cards, among which the silver card is most popular, have increased as a number of people in Dubai now use the electronic card to access various services offered by the Roads and Transport Authority.
“More than one million different transactions are recorded on a daily basis by various types of Nol cards; which means that the number of public transport users, especially the metro, is constantly going up and the culture of using public transport systems in Dubai is spreading among various segments of the community.
The Nol silver card is the top seller as sales record show that about 3,000 cards are being sold daily, and the total number of Nol cards of various categories sold from the launch of the metro service up to the end of April this year has exceeded three million cards compared to 1.9 million cards sold in the same period back in 2010,” said Abdullah Al Madani, CEO of Corporate Technical Support Services, Roads & Transport Authority. Daily transactions include passenger entry and exit from metro stations and public buses, parking fees payment and card recharges that contribute to the estimated figure.
Metro commuters are also on the rise bringing in a change in the public transport sector. “The Metro started operations on 09/09/2009 and within 16 days only of that date, the passenger count of this highly sophisticated transport means had crossed the one million barrier.
However, this has not come as a surprise given the vital importance of the project; which has brought in a quantam shift in the public transport sector in the region,” said Al Madani.
