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Sharjah’s public transport vehicles fully geared up

RTA Sharjah will run 2,873 daily shuttle trips on all its routes during the four-day break.

Sharjah: The Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority is all set for the Eid Al Adha holidays with more public trips and buses on all city and intercity routes to meet the expected rush.

Abdul Abdulaziz Al Jarwan, Director of Transport Affairs, RTA Sharjah, on Thursday said the authority will run 2,873 daily shuttle trips on all its routes during the four-day break. “These are 83 more trips as compared to 2,415 operated during the Eid Al Fitr holidays two months back.”

Al Jarwan explained that they will be running 1,073 daily trips on the city public bus routes against 1,800 on the intercity routes which connects Sharjah with the emirate’s distant cities in the Eastern and Central regions and other emirates.”

The authority has also specified more buses for Sharjah city commuters, he added. “We will operate 91 buses on the city public bus routes; these are 27 buses more as compared to 64 buses on regular days, particularly during peak hours.”

Al Jarwan stated that the public shuttle service will be available for one extra hour during the four holidays. “All the 350 intercity buses, heading from Al Jubail Station opposite the Fish Market to 13 different directions, will be running until 12 midnight instead of 11pm.”

The intercity public buses will be covering the emirate of Abu Dhabi and all other northern emirates with 1,800 daily trips with a frequency time that will not exceed five minutes, he noted. “The Sharjah RTA is also geared up to meet customers’ needs with spacious and comfortable cabs round-the-clock through the popular advance booking system.”

Al Jarwan said there will be more staffers at the call centre on three shifts — eight hours each, to meet the expected rise in requests. “Calls and advance cab bookings normally increase by 10 to 15 percent during holidays and weekends.”

The authority, in collaboration with the four franchise cab firms operative in the city, has prepared and checked all vehicles, particularly family and women-only taxis to avoid any hassle during Eid. “The dispatch booking devices fixed on all cabs in Sharjah have been examined to ensure uninterrupted communication between the call centre and men and women cabbies.”

ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com