Abu Dhabi: An additional 244 daily trips have been added to Abu Dhabi’s public bus service schedule to meet peak-hour demand.
The new trips will double the capacity of seven main bus services in Abu Dhabi city that link areas with high demand for public transport, said the emirate’s public transport regulator, the Department of Municipalities and Transport’s Integrated Transport Centre.
High-demand services
Bus services with high demand include 102, 41, 67, 101, 110, 160 and 170. Wirth the addition of 244 additional trips every day, the service frequency will result in a bus pick-up every five to 15 minutes. This is expected to reduce crowding on the buses, and decrease commuters’ wait time at bus stops on Sultan bin Zayed Street (Muroor Road), Zayed the First street (Electra Street), Hamdan Street, Mushrif Mall, Wahda Mall, Dalma Mall, Mazyad Mall, Khalifa City Souq, Al Reem Island, Al Zeina and Musaffah.
Limiting carbon emissions
The newly added vehicles are Mercedes Benz and Volvo buses that conform to the European specifications for low carbon emissions, based on ITC’s keenness to protect the environment and minimise energy consumption. The addition of the new services to the bus schedule is in keeping with the decrease in COVID-19 cases in the emirate, and a subsequent increase in passenger demand for public pus services.
COVID-19 precautions
In a statement, the ITC said that COVID-19 precautionary measures has also helped enhance trust in public transport.
Public bus passengers will have to continue wearing masks at all times, and maintain adequate social distancing as preventive measures against COVID-19.
Google Maps integration
Last month, the ITC announced that information about Abu Dhabi public bus timings and routes is now available on Google Maps, Here Maps and TomTom navigation apps. The integration of this information was aimed at increasing access to public bus services.
