*** Airport buses in vogue, overtake illegal cars | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Airport buses in vogue, overtake illegal cars

Passengers get respite from illegal drivers who gyp them at airport

 

Melvin Mendonca/ DTNN

melvin@dt.bh

Manama

With the introduction of the new buses in Bahrain, the menace of illegal taxies has become a thing of the past, especially at the airport. According to sources, as the buses operating by the Bahrain Public Transport Company have started entering the airport, the number of illegal taxi drivers has dwindled at the airport. 

Earlier, the illegal taxi drivers used to enter the airport in the pretext of picking their relatives or friends from the airport. After canvassing passengers from the airport, they usually strike a deal with them regarding the fare.

The new transport company introduced its first phase of full-fledged bus service in the Kingdom on April 1 and thus the public bus connectivity to the airport has drastically gone up.

A1 route connects the airport with Askar, while A2 buses ply between Isa Town and the airport.

On the other hand, route numbers 30 and 31 (Muharraq circular) connect the airport with Muharraq Terminal and Busaiteen.

Route no 10 and 11 carry passengers of Arad, Hidd, Mina Salman, Kuwait Avenue, Salmaniya Hospital and Manama to the airport without any hassles.

Moreover, the convenient boot space in these buses helps the airport passengers keep their big luggage. 

Hareesh, who recently came from India after his vacation, said that earlier he used to travel to his house by illegal taxies whenever he landed at the airport after vacation.

 “I was searching for illegal taxies at the airport since the legal taxies are too expensive here. But no illegal taxi driver was present there at the airport. But I found the bus which directly goes to my area,” he said.

According to him, he used to spend five to six Bahraini dinars to reach his place at Manama from the airport. But this time he just paid 500 fils to reach his house. “My journey was also comfortable. I even enjoyed free Wi-Fi service provided by the bus operators,” he added.

Marketing Communication official of Bahrain Public Transport Company, Ahmed Ahmed recently said that A1 and A2 routes, which include airport, Manama bus terminal, Salmaniya, Isa Town bus terminal, Alba interchange, Askar, Jaww and Al Dur were the busiest routes in the Kingdom.

Meanwhile, General Directorate of Traffic has also intensified its operation against illegal taxi drivers.

According to General Director of Traffic, Shaikh Nasser bin Abdulrahman Al Khalifa, the department arrested 64 Asians, Bahrainis and Gulf nationals, who run illegal taxies in March, April and May.

They were sentenced to one month in jail, BD1,000 fine and some of them have been deported. 

He said that there was cooperation with concerned bodies such as police stations, Bahrain International Airport, officials at car parking of hotels and commercial malls to protect licensed taxi drivers and their livelihoods.