Getting Their Act (GTA) Together…
There was this particular time in my blog that I was slamming the RTA public transport service. Forget their overpriced taxi and stupid 10AED policy because apparently their head nachos all own expensive SUVs and salaries that will lure 60 year olds out of retirement.
Despite all this, after being away from Dubai for almost a year, only coming during the call of weekends or shopping urges, I can startsaying that the RTA seems to have done their jobs finally. I have my own policy aboutgetting jobs done, “It doesn’t matter how long the job takes as long as it gets done.” Well, the RTA have completed the following:
- Get their air-conditioned bus waiting stations up.
- Improve the city bus service
I mean with wasn’t a complete overhaul resulting to 90% total improvement. First of all the air-conditioned bus sheds as mentioned as the first of its kind in the Middle East. It is only pure logic when I say that during June, temperature hit as high as 45C to 50C. It simply makes sense to get these facilities or you have customers looking like soaked rags or looking for some other form of transport with taxis being their last resorts. The sun isn’t the thing that’s hot here; its the wind and pavement. Unfortunately, it took almost ayear and a half or even more to get there things working. This was the only complaint I had regarding about this. They advertised this facility as being available but these were not yet completed. There are still some of them awaiting completion and those which will never have it (due to building constraints, Karama Post Office area) but the point is that almost 80% seem to working. The air condition is working and its 20C cooler. Waiting for the bus was tolerable and it wasn’t about the temperature gettingon your nerves but because of bus frequency. This is a good start, I just hope that these facilities last a long time, yes they can turn off the air-conditioning during winter, and I hope they can be enjoyed by all (Unfortunately, the workers in Al Quoz are hard working people and you can smell the day’s work they’ve been through, it doesn’t smell pleasant at all!)
Now increasing the fleet of buses is a very good thing and the fact that these buses were not the same Benz or Scania models used before, makes me excited. The buses theyve got arelarger and longer buses with more space, comfortable seats and better air-conditioning. They accommodate more passengers and makethe trip a slightly better experience. More bus fleet means better timings right? Not really. But RTA is getting there! During this time of recession there aren’t too many cars on the roads now, some how you feel thankful that the roads are less congested but at the same time you have to feel sorry for the guys who lost their jobs because of this economic downturn.
So from what I heard, buses come in more frequently and is easier to ride on unlike the past 2 years where you were mentally and physically sapped out from a 1 1/2 hour bus ride. Aside for their 2AED cost (near or far) charge and card only policies on some of their buses, I really have to hand it to them. Honestly, I can’t wait to get on one of those double-deckers and hopefully zip from point A at point B at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the time.
As for the DURL (Dubai Rapid Link), all I can say is that this thing should have been planned since the 1990s to address the expansion problem. The problem with Dubai is that the plans were how to make the city more financially expandable not to mention vertical for their insane high-rise aspirations. They completely forgot the population growth and with the emergence of business, of course you will need better transport facilities. So as for the DURL, a little bit too late but I guess we can bear with it. Where were you during my 3 years of work in DIC? I suffered long and hard along with the other people working there. Anyways, better late than never I always say. Its just funny that the transport system is built around known landmarks and shopping malls and not the other way around. I always thought that once youve established transport landmarks, buildings will come up around it, now I see some DURL stations cropping up in the tightest of places. Time will tell how this will go.
* By the way, as the title suggests, GTA5 or Grand Theft Auto V, there are unconfirmed reports that they will make Dubai the model city for the game. Believe me, I bet the roads would be wider there and it would be lovely just to free roam.*