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Abu Dhabi: Passengers say the poor transport services are getting on their nerves every day.
When the government invited tenders from private operators, passengers said they had hoped for a more comfortable ride.
But passengers say sometimes they have to wait for more than an hour for a bus, and many of the roads in the cities are not covered by the services.
Jamal Salama Shenudah, a resident of Abu Dhabi for the past 12 years, said new buses were badly needed for services on the routes in and around the city.
"Everyday travel is an ordeal. There is no monitoring of the services to ensure rights of the passengers are protected or that they get their money's worth," Shenudah said.
Deadline
The committee for restructuring of the Abu Dhabi Government invited tenders from private firms to operate bus transport services.
The deadline is April 15 and successful companies must own at least 70 buses, according to the announcement.
The Abu Dhabi Municipalities and Agriculture Department owns a fleet of around 275 buses, but it has been suffering since more than a year now because of decreasing numbers of commuters and loss of revenues.
The problem exacerbated especially for the lack of maintenance after the closing down of the municipality garage.
Satpal Singh, a 41-year-old office boy, said he usually waits for an hour for bus No. 501 to Baniyas, a trip which takes only 45 minutes. "If enough buses are plying the roads, commuters would not wait for more than 10 or 15 minutes," he said.
Asadullah Anwar Ali, who works for an air cargo company, also complained he had to wait for his bus which travels to Abu Dhabi International Airport more than an hour every time. "Today I waited for 75 minutes for the bus," he said.
Jumhari Bin Wata, an electrician from Indonesia, said "a better public transport system is a pressing need for Abu Dhabi to help resolve the congestion problem before it gets complicated as it is the case elsewhere."
Mohammad Ahmad Ali Khalil, another resident for 17 years, said public buses, run by the Abu Dhabi Municipality were mostly used by the lower-income people.
"These low-income commuters are now easy prey for taxis, especially when they have to travel longer trips or at night."
Privatising of the bus services will provide better public services for bus passengers, Khalil said.
Your comments
I want to clarify why all public transport has stickers saying 'seats reserved for ladies' but the buses are always full of men. Where is the word 'reserved' for ladies? A bus driver the other night left the lady commuters even though he had available seats. What a bad attitude. He is destroying the good image of Dubai Government.
Marj
Dubai,UAE
Not only in Abu Dhabi, also here in Dubai the buses cause big problems for commuters. The commuters are waiting almost one and half hours, especially at night and the biggest problem I observed was the drivers, they don't know how to care for their passengers, especially the ladies.
Leony
Dubai,UAE
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