Dubai: Around 400 new AC bus shelters as well as several more non-AC bus shelters will be set up at different locations in Dubai by the end of this year.
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is studying proposals to set up the new shelters while working to find solutions for the existing shelters where there is no air conditioning.
Currently, there are 600 bus shelters across Dubai, with nearly 100 of them without AC. The shelters, made entirely of metal, are uninhabitable in this sweltering heat.
Mohammad Abullah Al Ali, Director of Planning and Business Development at the RTA’s Public Transport Agency( PTA), acknowledged that there are issues which need to be sorted out, but insisted that maintaining such a huge number of air-conditioned shelters was a gargantuan task.
“There are issues of cabling and power connectivity. We are working with the outsourced agent and Dewa [Dubai Electricity and Water Authority] to find a solution. We also have proposals of using solar power or generators and there will be a solution soon,” Al Ali said, explaining some of the problems facing the initiative.
The PTA is conducting a study that not only looks into popular locations for potential bus shelters but also issues like power connectivity.
“We will try not to repeat the previous mistakes. We will set up shelters where people want them most but only if there is a power source nearby, otherwise we will have to face the same issues again.”
