30M use Sharjah public transport in six months
sharjah — As many as 30 million people have used the public shuttle service run by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Sharjah in the first six months of the year.
The convenient services offered by the authority have attracted more passengers to the buses and taxis across the emirate, according to Abdulaziz Al Jarwan, RTA Sharjah director for transport affairs.
“We have transported about 167,000 passengers on a daily basis, and that reflects the growing trust in our high quality services, particularly after the introduction of new buses and taxis, additional bus routes, and increasing the frequency of services.”
Al Jarwan said that the four franchise cab companies operating in the emirate, including Sharjah, Emirates, Union, and Citi Taxi, have transported 22.6 million passengers on 15.06 million trips in the first half of the year.
“More passengers in the Eastern Region have gone for advanced taxi bookings with 7,753 requests processed in six months,” he said. “Three taxi auto call machines have been installed in Kalba and two in Khor Fakkan.”
The RTA office at the Sharjah International Airport have run 191,356 trips, he stated. “The airport taxi fleet includes 182 regular, family, and womenonly cabs that are driven by 197 cabbies.”
Sharjah public buses have transported 3.51 million passengers on nine routes as part of 172,343 trips, Al Jarwan said. “The Sayer prepaid cards, offering 25 per cent discount, attracted more passengers.”
The intercity buses have transported 3.62 million passengers on 17 routes in 166,404 trips, he said.
Official records show that the call centre received 483,000 calls in the first half of the year. “This is around 80,000 calls in a month which included 318,000 for advance taxi bookings.”