As in the past six years, the last day of 2016 tested Dubai’s transport capability as 105,326 passengers arrived at the Dubai International airport and close to 1.8 million riders used the public transport networks.

Dubai’s Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) has reported that close to 770,000 riders took to the metro and tram networks, an additional 393,000 availed the bus services, over 540,000 used taxis, and close to 54,000 used the available marine transit modes on 31 December 2016.

As in previous years, the RTA prepared a comprehensive traffic management plan for the event. The Dubai Police Operations Room was set up to secure the new year celebrations at the Burj Khalifa, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard and Downtown Dubai areas, where more than half a million people gathered.

The plan entailed closing off a number of roads and a metro station within the vicinity of Burj Khalifa, where the biggest fireworks display is held.

Major sign boards were installed in relevant areas or roads to direct traffic to and from the area, and some 17,000 car parking spaces in the surrounding areas were made available for the event.

Unlike in 2015, when a fire broke out of the adjacent The Address Hotel before midnight, there were no incidents or security breaches reported in the latest festivities.

Deputy Director of the Department of Protective Security at Dubai Police Abdullah Khalifa al-Marri attributed the event’s success to the accurate implementation of the traffic management plan. “All required precautions and preparations were made to ensure the public’s safety and comfort,” Al-Marri told Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, UAE Vice-President and Prime Minister and ruler of Dubai, who visited the control room on 1 January.

It is understood that 15 government authorities and some 4,000 volunteers worked together to ensure an incident-free event, which is by far the largest one-day event day that is being hosted by the emirate each year.

The complex planning and logistics requirement of such event is likely to help the RTA and Dubai prepare for the Expo 2020, where the emirate is expected to receive up to 25 million visitors October 2020 and April 2021.

By then, the emirate’s public transport networks would have significantly expanded to include the 15km extension of the Dubai Metro Red Line to the Expo 2020 site and possibly the second phase of the tramway, which extends from the depot where the first phase ends to the Mall of Emirates metro station.

There would be a broader deployment of driverless vehicles and wider adoption of Uber and Careem and other similar applications that could extend, supplant or co-exist with them.

And unlike the new year’s eve celebration, where a large volume of spectators and visitors are concentrated in specific venues that are already densely populated, Expo 2020 will be located in a brand new site where public transportation, including access to the port and airports, will hopefully be better integrated into the master plan.