Don’t pass on the blame
School bus drivers are taking advantage of their status by stopping on the roads and sticking out the stop sign. They should either find the nearest parking slot or at least get partially off the road by slipping into the space provided at all parking lanes without blocking the traffic.

Why are pick up points within a few metres of each other? Why can’t there be a collective pick up point within a reasonable area or locality? The resultant walk will do both the children and the parents a lot of good — and stop making the heat in this place an excuse, please.

Child safety comes not only at school pick-up and drop-off times but at all times. If something goes wrong it would be easy to blame either the school or the bus driver.

I am not condoning the drivers who ignore the stop sign, but rather saying that the bus drivers be trained and be considerate enough to make space for others and not behave as the “kings of the road”.
From Mr Ajit Lamba
UAE

Stop for everyone
Despite having ample space to move the bus inside, these bus drivers simply stop in the middle of the lane, blocking one full lane, and simply have the stop sign on. They think it is their right to block all the traffic behind just because they have this stop sign.

Now, the most irritating part starts with the parents in pyjamas who start crawling towards the bus, regardless of the long queue of cars behind. To add to this, the buses stop every few yards to pick up individual children from just outside their building.

Since when is this luxury afforded to each individual child? Do buses in other countries pick children up from outside their individual buildings?

This causes a traffic jam right behind all these buses as we then have to wait for the bus to ultimately move. A little walk by the parent and child would do well when it comes to obesity.
From Ms Zarin
UAE
Full name withheld by request

Higher train frequency
As a daily Dubai Metro commuter I would like to request the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to increase the frequency of the Metro rides from Al Rashidiya to Jebel Ali stations during morning peak hours from 8 to 10am.

The frequency should be around seven minutes. During the morning time these trains are overcrowded and commuters stand uncomfortably next to each other in the beautifully maintained Metro trains.

If we take a look at the Metro during the evening peak hours from Jebel Ali Metro station, the frequency between each train is four minutes. Please do the needful and increase the frequency in the morning.
From Mr Naveed Iqbal
Dubai

Refuse, reuse and reduce
The Ministry of Finance recently organised an internal awareness campaign on the environmental hazards of plastic bags. It is a really big act by the department. It is great news for everybody who cares about the environment. There are many negative effects of plastic bags — environmental, health and economical effects are a few of them.

All hypermarkets, supermarkets, shops and other outlets should refuse, reduce and reuse plastic bags. Instead of plastic bags everybody should carry jute bags, cloth bags or any other environmentally friendly bags.

People need to think about their own health, their own money and their own environment around them. Nowadays many countries like Bangladesh and India have stopped the use of plastic bags in most of their transactions.

Jute, cloth and paper bags are attractive and cheap, and are easy to reuse. We should encourage each other to use these types of bags. I request everyone to refuse, reuse or reduce their usage of plastic bags.

Authorities concerned should take necessary steps to arrange for environmentally friendly bags all over the emirates.
From Mr M.A. Mannan
Abu Dhabi

New motorway
Hats off to the leadership of the UAE for building this infrastructure that will help people travelling between Abu Dhabi and Dubai on a daily basis (‘New motorway will ease traffic on Abu Dhabi-Dubai route’, Gulf News, February 7).

Bless the rulers and may they bring many more projects like this that will help UAE residents in their day-to-day lives.
From A Reader
Abu Dhabi

Taking care of us
This is an excellent project. The UAE authorities really deserve a “good job” compliment. I appreciate how the leaders are taking care of the public.
From Mr Hurmain
Abu Dhabi

We need a train
I guess it would be much better if the two emirates — Dubai and Abu Dhabi — can work on introducing a Metro service between each other rather than making a new road.

A Metro can make travel a lot safer and also cut down time to maybe 30 minutes — if fast trains are introduced. I think there will be a lot of demand for this service.
From Owais Allah Khan
Dubai

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