Passengers tired of waiting
Manama
The new public buses, introduced about three months back, have been successful in creating some impact in the transport sector, but many passengers have expressed their displeasure over long waiting hours.
The number of routes was increased to 22 after the Bahrain Public Transport Company came up with 10 new ones, covering a vast portion of the Kingdom.
Moreover, the transport company planned the timing of buses with a frequency of at least half-an-hour in most of the routes. But the buses are not following the time table set by the transport company.
According to passenger Jane Francisco, the new routes are confusing and the buses are not running as per the prescribed schedule. “Between Juffair and Manama, buses usually come every 20 to 30 minutes. But sometimes, I have to wait for as long as 40 to 50 minutes,” she said. She added she recently had to wait for almost 2 hours to catch a bus at Manama bus terminal, towards Juffair.
She said waiting at the bus stand under scorching sun for longer hours in the summer is like a big punishment.
“If the situation continues, we can’t rely on public buses when the summer reaches its peak,” she said.
Another passenger, Roshan, who regularly uses public transport, said a lot of improvements were needed in the time schedule of the buses.
“Sometimes, I see two buses running in the same route coming within a gap of two to three minutes. And sometimes we have to wait for over 45 minutes to catch a bus,” he said.
Marketing Communication official of Bahrain Public Transport Company, Ahmed Ahmed stated the company was currently studying all the flaws in the transport system to improve the efficiency of bus service. “In phase 2, which will be introduced on August 1, everything will be smoother,” he assured.
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