Al Ain // The UAE's "garden city" is to get its own bus service to match the rapid development and growth in population expected in coming years.
The Department of Transport is to launch four routes before Ramadan next month and another four before the end of the year, officials said yesterday.
Saeed al Hameli, general manager of the DoT's public bus services, said the buses would run between the outskirts and the town centre, linking key locations such as Tawam Hospital, Al Ain Airport, Hili Park and Bawadi Mall.
"We think we will achieve a very good response on launching the service since Al Ain's structure of design is from the centre of the city and our services are running to cover east and west and north of Al Ain and link the major landmarks," Mr al Hameli said.
The service will be increased to 17 routes with a total of 350 buses by 2011, he said.
"It will grow side-by-side with the development [of the city] and over the next few years we will be ahead of the development."
Fares will range from Dh1 to Dh10, depending on the length of trip, Mr al Hameli said, with trips between the suburbs and the town centre costing a maximum of Dh5 and costs rising for longer journeys, such as to the eastern edge of the city and to the town of Sweihan.
The buses, painted white and orange, are manufactured by Mercedes and have low floors and automatic doors to make them accessible for pushchairs or wheelchairs. Buses will arrive every 30 minutes during peak hours this year, with the frequency increasing to 15 minutes in 2010 and to 10 minutes in 2011.
The DoT has increased the frequency of buses between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi to one every 30 minutes by introducing 15 refurbished buses on the route last week, Mr al Hameli said. The wait between buses was more than two hours earlier.
In addition, three new long-distance routes will open next year, connecting Al Ain to Abu Dhabi International Airport, Dubai and Sharjah. Buses on these routes will have toilets, catering and entertainment.
"With all the new development in Al Ain city, this was to avoid future challenges for transport. It is also to connect Al Ain city with Abu Dhabi and provide the same level of service as Abu Dhabi," Mr al Hameli said.
People waiting for inter-city buses will no longer have to cope with the heat after the department yesterday opened a temporary air-conditioned bus station. The tent structure is open from 6am to 11pm and has seating for 114 people, including 24 seats in a women only waiting area. A permanent station is to be built at the same location. At present there are buses making regional trips to places including Sweihan and Abu Dhabi city, Mr al Hameli said.
Anand Chaudry, an employee at the Al Ain branch of HSBC who commutes from Buraimi in Oman, said he tried to commute by bus when he first moved to Al Ain about seven months ago, but had given up because "the service was really, really poor".
"If one bus is gone, you know it is another two hours. Sometimes the bus is cancelled and they do not tell you anything," he said.
Mr Chaudry, who is from Mumbai, relied on taxis until he bought a car about a month ago.
"Al Ain definitely needs a new bus service - more than Abu Dhabi, in fact, because places are very far off," he said. "People used to wait for hours sometimes for the bus because they did not have any other option because they could not afford taxis."
Mr al Hameli said a study had been conducted to estimate the demand for public buses but a further study would be required once the service started.
"We are working on the availability stage and further improvement will be taken based on service demand," he said.
The city bus service in Abu Dhabi became instantly popular when it was launched with four routes more than a year ago.
Taxi driver Mehmood Gul said he did not expect the new bus service would hurt business much.
"There is a difference between the kind of people that get taxis and the kind that are willing to wait for the bus," he said.
"It has a lot to do with time. Al Ain is very big so it's not possible for the buses to go everywhere. Taxis will offer door-to-door service."
Earlier this month, the Abu Dhabi taxi service operator TransAD announced plans to put another 1,400 taxis on Al Ain's roads by the end of the year.
Al Ain's population is expected to grow by 21 per cent over the next five years alone, according to the Urban Planning Council, which envisages a three-fold increase in residents by 2030, from 374,000 at present.
mchung@thenational.ae
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE%20medallists%20at%20Asian%20Games%202023
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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"
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Results
6.30pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group 1 (PA) US$75,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
Winner: Ziyadd, Richard Mullen (jockey), Jean de Roualle (trainer).
7.05pm: Al Rashidiya Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (Turf) 1,800m
Winner: Barney Roy, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.
7.40pm: Meydan Cup Listed Handicap (TB) $175,000 (T) 2,810m
Winner: Secret Advisor, Tadhg O’Shea, Charlie Appleby.
8.15pm: Handicap (TB) $175,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Plata O Plomo, Carlos Lopez, Susanne Berneklint.
8.50pm: Handicap (TB) $135,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass.
9.25pm: Al Shindagha Sprint Group 3 (TB) $200,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner: Gladiator King, Mickael Barzalona, Satish Seemar.
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