Fare hike, more cars on the road?
How can the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) promote sustainable transport and environmental development if they keep increasing bus fares(‘Dubai-Sharjah bus fare up to Dh10, RTA confirms’, April 30)? People will use their own cars and this will lead to more cars being filled up at the gas stations.
From Mr Yannick Annor
UAE
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It affects too many
The rising bus fare is quite unfair. It has increased by more than 30 per cent. Individuals who commute daily from Dubai to Sharjah and vice versa are going to bear the brunt of this unjustified hike. The authorities should have considered the fact that it is often the working class that travels on these public transport buses, who have limited income and endless expenses to meet. The previous Dh7 fare was quite reasonable and financially attainable.
From Ms Fatima Suhail
UAE
Increased travel time
The increase is too much. At least introduce discounted monthly passes. Also an increase in the number of bus stops will increase the travelling time.
From Mr Raveendran
Sharjah
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Create fees elsewhere
The persons who are travelling on RTA buses are often those with limited finances to begin with. Instead of hiking the price for buses and room rents, they should hike the price of cars and electronic goods.
From Mr Divya Lakshmi
Sharjah
A chunk of the salary
The buses are still the same, the route is still the same and so are petrol and diesel prices. What’s the point of increasing the fare? It’s unfair because buses are used by low income people. This will discourage people from using it as it will cost a daily consumer Dh200 per month, which is quite a chunk of his or her salary.
From Mr Ali Tariq
UAE
Monthly pass won’t do
I have read about the wifi on inter-city buses but I have to inform with great regret that I don’t think there is such a facility available on the buses from Dubai to Sharjah. Also, the talk of how a monthly pass will offset the hike for the daily commuters is a mere statement which even if enforced will not have a great impact or relief to the commuters.
From Ms Vivian
Dubai
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Not fair!
With such a huge hike we assume that the message is apparently not to use public transport. Instead, buy your own vehicle. Wherever you live in Sharjah you can board a Dubai-bound bus only from the main bus stand. Why has the RTA, till now, not given any explanation for not picking passengers from other bus stops? I expect parking charges to to become Dh5 per hour, shortly.
From Ms Mariakutty
Sharjah
Website comment
No increase in pay
It is very difficult to digest this increase in the fare, as there is no increase in salaries. Nowadays, many things around us are becoming unaffordable. Who will take this into account?
From Mr Damodharan
Sharjah
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Halve the cost
I have a suggestion for the RTA that a separate lane be provided for their buses and taxies to avoid traffic congestion and to reduce fares. I’m happy with the suggestion that regular passengers can procure a pass, additionally they should be allowed one journey every day at half the price.
From Mr Kumar
Sharjah
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Water taxi service
A Dh3 hike is steep. Why don’t the RTA and Sharjah start a water taxi service? The Rolla station is near the Arabian Sea, and we can take the water taxi to Bur Dubai or deira. There is no traffic plus it would be a nice view at a much cheaper fare. Then we can have buses from Rolla going towards other parts of Sharjah. Plus all the growing expenses, ranging from rent to transport with no increase in salary is not helping.
From Mr Sreenadh
Sharjah
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Metro, next
Dubai Taxi is extremely expensive and now buses also have increased fares. Next will be the Metro!
From Mr Abdul Rahman
UAE
It doesn’t add up
I would like to share an incident when I was in Mumbai for a holiday. I hired a taxi that was air conditioned to get to my residence. It cost only around Dh0.22, and I gave him a bit more and told him to keep the change. The driver was so happy that he helped me take all my luggage from the car to my apartment. The distance between the airport and my apartment in Mumbai is about two thirds the distance my apartment in Dubai is from the airport. When we returned to the UAE, I hired a taxi from the airport to Bur Dubai. It cost me Dh68. I asked the driver to help me with my two bags, and he looked at me as if I was a thief. I respect the RTA but one thing I would like to know is when fuel and gas are domestic products, why are the fares so expensive? Also, I would like to add that even propane gas is cheaper in India than in Dubai and India imports it from Iran.
From Mr Mahesh Bhatia
Dubai
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Metro access
I request the RTA to open the access to Jumeirah Village Circle (South) at the earliest (‘RTA studies metro link to Meydan,’ Gulf News, April 30). It has been four years and there are only two access gates from Al Khail road. Please open access to the Mmetro from Hessa Street also.
From Ms Ivsa
Dubai
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Intra-emirates rail
The Roads and Transport Authority needs to think of connecting all the seven emirates by Metro or rail, so that the journey takes less time and is convenient for the public. This will also help in developing the other emirates, as it will be easy for people to travel to them, for weekends and holidays. This will also help to reduce the number of accidents on highways.
From Mr Farhan
Dubai
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Lifestyle change
As much as I appreciate any give ‘back to society’ initiative from the community, I do not agree with the current trend of assigning a day to an initiative and forgetting about it the rest of the year (“Giving back to society: Volunteers help cleaners tidy up Dubai streets”, Gulf News, May 3). The other day, I saw a group of children from secondary school on a clean-up drive. Although it’s a good way to teach them, have we ever realised that some of these children clean up, then go home and have their nannies or housekeepers do all their work for them? Moreover, the very next day you might find the same children messing up the area in and around the school. By saying this, I am not implying that we should not hire nannies or stop cleaning up the street every day. Rather, instead of making it a one-off initiative, we should instil this as a habit, to keep our surroundings clean and respect the people who help us, by reducing their workload and doing our part each day.
From Ms Mahnaaz Shaikh
UAE
Take responsibility
Caring about shark finning is not just about respecting or loving other living beings (“Shark finning: A horrifying crime”, Gulf News, May 1). There is a scientific concern behind this issue. If you remove an apex predator from the food chain, you risk the collapse of that very food chain. If humans cause the extinction of sharks, we will significantly disrupt the food chain - it will be out of balance. This means starvation for many species (including humans, particularly in countries already under food stress) and extinction of others. So to preserve human life, we need to protect all species in the food chain - particularly predators. And let’s face it, what the greatest risk to human life? Human beings.
From Ms Colleen Read
Dubai
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Big change
With a surplus of mobile phones, who bothers with payphones (“Callers hanging up on UAE payphones”, Gulf News, May 3)? About 15 years ago, when I first came to the UAE, I had to stand in queue to get a chance to use a payphone. Not anymore!
From Ms Rema Manohar
Dubai
Not easy
I would love to use payphones but the card system in the UAE makes it difficult to use. It should be coin-based.
From Mr Raza Rizvi
UAE
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