Manama: Families in cash-rich Qatar are hiring limousines to take their children to and from school.
This new social trend, coinciding with the start of the academic year last Sunday, was adopted by parents who are tired of having to deal with dug-up roads and heavy traffic in the country.
School transport, which is the only other option available to parents who do not wish to drive the children themselves, has proved time-consuming due to heavy traffic and the fact that buses have to cover a number of districts.
Officials from Karwa Limousine Services were quoted in the Qatar media as saying it had recently added 50 seven-seat limousines to its fleet, in order to meet the growing demand by parents of schoolchildren.
Limousines offer a safe, reliable and timely option and many families in Qatar can afford them.
On Sunday, when schools reopened, the call centre of Karwa Limousine Services was flooded with calls from parents who said they needed the company's services urgently.
These families have booked limousines on a long-term basis and the company has had to change the work schedule of its drivers to bring it in line with the opening times of schools.
