Dubai is building an international bus station as well as a multi-modal bus station at Al Ghubaiba, with facilities for buses that arrive and depart from and to across the region and elsewhere
An additional bus maintenance depot is being built in Al Awir to accommodate about 350 buses on a 13-hectare plot. The facility, being constructed at an estimated cost of over Dhs30 million, will take care of the maintenance requirement of public transport up to 2008, said Essa Abdul Rahman Al Dousari, assistant director at Dubai Municipality’s public transport department.
Al Dousari said the department is currently implementing a detailed five-year plan based on the projected development of Dubai and the associated increase in transit demand. “At the end of this five-year plan in 2005, the public transport buses are estimated to carry about 380 000 passengers per day,” he said.
He said additional bus stations are being built in Al Quoz industrial area, Jebel Ali Village and Al Karama, in addition to an international bus station and a multi-modal bus station at Al Ghubaiba.
The department also has plans to build additional Abra stations at two locations on either side of the creek to increase the destination options for Abra passengers.
The Public Transport Department has also unveiled the first of its 100 new design bus stops near Dnata.
Al Dousari said the department is planning to construct 300 new design passenger shelters in different parts of the city with Signman and co-partner Digital Imaging Division of United Colour Film LLC of Al Murad Group. Thus, total number of bus stops will reach 1250 while the number of passenger shelters will come to 453.
Abdul Aziz Malik, director of Public Transport Department, said Signman will bear the cost of installing the bus stops, thus helping the municipality in reduce its infrastructure costs. “It is part of our policy of encouraging more private sector participation. It will also create more media opportunities since there would be space for advertisements on the bus stops,” he said.
Al Dousari said a full-fledged staff training unit has been set up to impart both pre-service and in-service training for drivers and other supervisory staff in safe driving, customer relations and supervisory skills.
Al Dousari said evaluation is in process to acquire new planning software to intelligently review and plan bus routes to satisfactorily cater to the passenger demand.
The number of routes stand at 57, the bus fleet has grown to 516 and the passenger trips rose to nearly 200 000 a day. The current growth rate is around 20% per annum and the per capita passenger trips increased from13 to over 50,” said Al Dousari.
