Crowd Control

<< Rashidiya metro station picking up Eid passenger traffic.

Yesterday, the second day of Eid and a nearly universal holiday for workers, meant there were going to be crowds at the more popular city attractions, and the metro is probably near the top of the list of things to experience in Dubai.

I would have preferred to avoid the metro, but it was my only chance to treat to the experience an out of town friend who otherwise wouldn't have been able to get the time off.

We joined hundreds of others in what turned out to be a full-blown, potentially crushing crowd at the Rashidiya station just after sunset.


Growing crowds of holidaying metro tourists. >>

The parking lot had two and a half of its seven levels full--over twice what has thusfar been normal on a work day--and the crowds materialized at the entrance to the foot bridge crossing that leads from the carpark lobby to the ticketing lobby.

It was after about an hour of waiting and enduring moderate pushing when we were told by the station managers that the station was closed and no one else would be allowed to enter.

The station was not closed, in fact, but this was perhaps the most effective way to manage what were otherwise impossible numbers. It was quite obvious that we were, 99% of us I would presume, metro tourists. So, no harm in being told to just go home.

The situation could easily have become hazardous had no crowd control measures been taken or had the crowd been required to wait there much longer.

The following measures which were taken in the interim were of limited, but critical, effectiveness:

1. All doors, but one, were closed in order to regulate movement of the crowd from the car park lobby to the ticketing lobby. (In fact, the flow was not regulated but simply halted.)
   
2. The crowd was held at bay in the car park lobby and on the steps (not good) leading up to the foot bridge which led to the ticketing lobby. (This would prevent crowding issues in the ticketing lobby and on the boarding platform but not right there in the car park lobby itself.)
   
3. Passengers exiting the station were required to take the exit stairs before reaching the car park lobby. (Good move, no caveats on this one.)
   
4. An English and then an Urdu speaker announced through a megaphone that women and children should migrate to one side of the wide footbridge entrance and men to the other, with a 30:70 ratio of men (the larger number) to women and children (another good move).
   
5. It was requested that everyone remain patient and calm. (The most simple and effective measure taken.)

⇑ Two station officials attempt to control the crowds. Man at right (speaking in English) cool and collected but soon nowhere to be seen, man at left (speaking in Urdu) making a frantic and noble attempt to keep things under control.

Thankfully, the final two measures helped to avoid a potentially fatal push from the back of the crowd into the barricade of closed and blocked doors at the front. However, that did not prevent the male side of the crowd from becoming a bit aggressive when it seemed that some were finally being let through.

In response Emirati security personnel showed up and attempted to crudely order the crowd to line-up. That failing and clearly not possible due to the placement of the crowd, it was finally announced that the station was closed.

In the final analysis, there were at least two serious potential hazards in this situation, one, the closed doors leaving a portion of the crowd juxtaposed on steps with a growing crowd behind them, and the other, the long time (one hour) in which the crowd was left to swell without any information on when or how they would be eventually allowed to enter.

The crowd should have been dispersed in half that time if, as was the case, it was not possible to allow any flow into the station.

To the credit of the station masters, they did use a megaphone to address the crowd and in the two languages which were probably the most widely understood. It was also wise on their part to separate the men from the women & children. It was, in fact, not an unruly crowd--most seemed to appreciate our predicament. However, crowds will be crowds--people will eventually begin to jostle, and this did begin to happen.

Simple Alternatives

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People seem to forget that there are nearly always alternative courses of action one may take. One of those alternatives is to just abandon your plans and accept that there will be another day. Nothing, not even getting to work on time or getting there at all, is all important. When there is too much fog on the road, just call in and say you can't make it. When you're too tired, just pull off the road and take a nap.

<< The giant aquarium, one of Dubai Mall's star attractions.

The prudent measure was to announce the closure of the station. In whatever way people had gotten to the station, they could just as well leave the station in the same way.

I left in my car, with my small group of friends, and we drove to Dubai Mall where we also met huge holiday crowds. It was still a good evening out.

Later, when one in my party asked to be driven to the fish market area of Deira, I had to politely refuse.


Dubai Mall and the Burj Dubai tower's other main attraction, the free of cost Lake Fountain performance. >>.

I suppose he hadn't learned his lesson at the metro station, but I certainly had. I didn't want to lose another hour, this time trapped in a line of cars in Shindhaga tunnel.

I decided we would try Rashidiya station again, but instead of taking the parking lot entrance over the footbridge, we could enter the ticket lobby directly from street level.

It was two hours after our initial attempt and by this time the crowds had all cleared. My friends all got their first metro ride after all.

Studio on Rails

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<< I'm always camera-ready on the metro.

Dubai metro could take on this monicker.

Having debuted at a time when the mobile phone camera is ubiquitous and there are at least 2 mobile phones per capita in the UAE, there is no shortage of photographers on the metro trains.

A few of us even carry our SLRs and it seems both the officials and the passengers are comfortable with camera toting enthusiasts like me. Two passengers willingly allowed me to use the metro as their canvas. (It was their request and my pleasure to comply!)

If anyone notices this 6-foot forty-something on board with camera in hand, just say cheese and I'll be your willing photographer.

The metro is proving a good place to meet new people, like the two I met happy to have their photos taken, and I happy to oblige.