Fewer public bus riders evade fare
Roads and Transport Authority reports a decline in violations in first two months of 2017
The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) yesterday announced that it recorded fewer cases of public bus riders evading fares in January and February compared with the same months in 2016.
In January, the RTA recorded 878 violations, including fare evasion, compared to 1,248 in January 2016. Similarly, there were 1,107 violations in February compared with 1,159 in February 2016.
Abdullah Al Mahri, Director of Transport Activities Monitoring at the RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said: “Some of the violations relate to bus drivers as well as users of bus stations and air-conditioned shelters.”
Rasid, a campaign to stop bad behaviour in public buses is continuing this year as well.
“The most recurrent offences relate to the use of public transport services, entry-exit in paid zones without paying tariff, and eating/drinking in restricted areas,” Al Mahri said.
The campaign was intensified twice last year. The first cycle lasted 19 days involving the participation of 58 inspectors who reported 5,693 offences, and the second continued for 23 days in which 36 inspectors took part and 8,813 offences were reported.
“The ultimate purpose of the campaign is to report negative practices, be it by bus drivers, riders, or users of public transport facilities, and report the applicable offences in a bid to curb these practices.”