UAE: On September 9 the Dubai metro's Green Line was officially opened by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, with passenger services scheduled to start the following day.

...Al Tayer also reported that the Red Line had carried a total of 84·2 million passengers between opening on September 9 2009 and the end of August this year.

This is significant.

In the past, the oil-rich Arab states weren't exactly friendly to the idea of public transport: with crude oil aplenty, the efficiency of electricity wasn't seen as economic necessity, and people preferred individual transport in luxurious cars. This changed in recent years: whether it was China's example or a fear of Peak Oil, all of the oil states began to draft grand plans of all kinds of rail transport: from light rail through heavy metro and heavy-haul railways to mines and long-distance mixed-traffic mainlines to high-speed rail. Leading the revolution are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the heavy metro category, real estate bubble city Dubai was first.

Of the 84.2 million passengers, more than 54 million rode the metro in its second year, that is about 150,000 a day on average. This is still only about a quarter of what the line was laid out for, which shouldn't be surprising post-bubble. However, it is much more than what I feared on the basis of the metro being aimed at citizens used to luxury rather than the hordes of right-less guest workers: 150,000 a day is a lot, it is in the region you need a metro for. Looks like a success.

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}