More AC bus stops soon in Bahrain

Manama : Following the success of the first five air-conditioned bus stops, which were meant to test the idea, more will be installed in other locations, according to the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunication.

Five air-conditioned bus stops were installed in Bahrain last year. The locations of the bus shelters included Salmabad, Gudaibiya, Ras Ruman, and King Faisal Highway. The bus stops were meant to test the idea of installing such shelters around the country. It gave the Ministry a chance to asses the costs involved before extending the project nationwide.

The Ministry is now planning to install more air-conditioned bus stops said Land Transportation and Post Under-Secretary Mariam Jumaan. “We installed five to test them out because from our research we knew that it would require a lot of maintenance. For example because of the doors opening and closing frequently the AC compressor would spoil. So instead of rolling them out all over the country, we decided to try a limited number of them, assess the maintenance and the expenses involved etc and then roll them out. We are now looking to install more,” she said. 

“However, our first priority is trying to make it so that they do not have to wait at bus stops. This is why we have online services where they can find out the timing of the bus, our smartphone application serves this purpose,” she said. 

“For people to leave their car at home and ride a bus, there is a stumbling block and that is the cultural mindset. We are working on this, we want to make it easy for people to get on a bus and go wherever they want. The current growth of the number of cars on the road is not sustainable. It is our priority to encourage the use of public transport. Our projects such as the new and improved buses, bus shelters as well as the urban rail network will help towards that,” she said.