ABU DHABI // The number of bus routes operating in the emirate will nearly double by the end of the year, transport officials said yesterday.
By December, buses will be running on 123 routes, up from 75 at the end of last year and just nine when the service was introduced in 2009.
"The first three years were like an engagement phase, a phase of getting the system started and people familiar to the system," said Saeed al Hameli, the general manager of bus transportation at the Department of Transport. "Now we will work in improving and increasing the system."
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The new routes will include the Tourist Club City Air terminal, Al Makaziyah Khalifa - the area behind the central Corniche - and Yas Island South.
Routes will also go to universities and souqs, to ease congestion and help students and shoppers.
Musaffah bus station will soon be linked with the Shahama souq and by October, there will be two separate bus lines from Khalifa Street to Abu Dhabi University, and Khalifa University, both just across the Musaffah bridge from Abu Dhabi Island.
In the eastern part of the emirate, there will be more links between Al Yaher and Al Hayer and surrounding cities.
A route starting this month will go between Sha’aibah, south of the Maqam and Al Hili souq, while others will go north from Al Ain’s bus station to Al Yaher souq to the north, Sweihan souq, and Al Faqa al Jadeeda. By October there will be buses to Shuaib souq, north of Al Hayer souq on the Al Ain-Dubai highway, and Al Wagan souq and Al Qa’a souq near Jabel Hafeet.
In al Gharbia there will be more links between Ruwais and Mirfa and surrounding areas. A new route will link the Ruwais Adnoc bus station and Bida Al Mutawa school, around 60km to the south.
Mr al Hameli said the number of passenger journeys has risen steadily as more routes have been added, reaching 15.2 million in the first three months of this year, up a third on the same period last year.
About 38,000 passengers a day travel on the 34 routes in operation. Al Ain’s 10 routes carry an average of 30,000 passengers a day.
“At this rate there will be 74 million passenger trips by the end of the year, a huge increase from last year,” he said. “Today, what buses need is to be better. Abu Dhabi is under constant improvement, our services need to be too.”
Further refinements in the pipeline include a new stop on the route between Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The only Dubai stop currently is at Bur Dubai, making the service far less attractive to residents at the Jebel Ali end of the city. Mr al Hemeli said a stop would be added near Jebel Ali, although he would not say where, only saying he wanted that to be “a surprise”.
Drivers will also be instructed to drive more strictly to their allotted routes. One in particular, the 402 to Al Wathba, tends to stray from the roads it is supposed to take.
“The bus was stopping outside near the mosque because inside the villa area there are a lot of bumps on the road and a lot of children playing on the street, so for that reason the bus would stop outside,” Mr al Hemeli said. “But by June the problem will be resolved.”
Mr al Hemeli said that with the extra buses the average waiting time should shorten. The average now is between seven and 10 minutes.
Aisha Abdullah, a 24-year-old Emirati from Al Yaher, said the extra routes in her area would allow her to dispense with her driver.
“For the past four years at UAE University, I used to have to wait for the driver to come every day,” she said. “A bus would be a much cheaper option.”
At present all short bus trips cost Dh1, with day passes available for Dh3.
osalem@thenational.ae
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Mia Man’s tips for fermentation
- Start with a simple recipe such as yogurt or sauerkraut
- Keep your hands and kitchen tools clean. Sanitize knives, cutting boards, tongs and storage jars with boiling water before you start.
- Mold is bad: the colour pink is a sign of mold. If yogurt turns pink as it ferments, you need to discard it and start again. For kraut, if you remove the top leaves and see any sign of mold, you should discard the batch.
- Always use clean, closed, airtight lids and containers such as mason jars when fermenting yogurt and kraut. Keep the lid closed to prevent insects and contaminants from getting in.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
The flights Etihad (www.etihad.com) and Spice Jet (www.spicejet.com) fly direct from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Pune respectively from Dh1,000 return including taxes. Pune airport is 90 minutes away by road.
The hotels A stay at Atmantan Wellness Resort (www.atmantan.com) costs from Rs24,000 (Dh1,235) per night, including taxes, consultations, meals and a treatment package.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score):
Manchester City (0) v Tottenham Hotspur (1), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
MATCH DETAILS
Barcelona 0
Slavia Prague 0
Zayed Sustainability Prize
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions