Commuters should feel comfortable

Bus shelters with broken air-conditioning will deter people from using public transport

A man waits outside a bus shelter with non-working air conditioning along Al Falah street. Christopher Pike / The National

As the mercury rises, we are all seeking some respite from the summer heat. But anybody hoping to cool down while waiting for a bus may be in for a shock. About half of the 50 Abu Dhabi bus shelters checked by reporters from The National had malfunctioning air-conditioning units. Some shelters had defective doors and others were locked. For commuters, that means waiting in the sunlight outside a locked shelter or an unwanted sauna inside a shelter that lacks air conditioning.

As we reported yesterday, despite an announcement in 2012 by the Department of Transport that 360 shelters would be air-conditioned by the beginning of 2014, only 100 appear to be open and many of those are not functioning properly.

If we are to encourage people to use public transport – and that ought to be a priority given the capital’s increasingly congested roads and rising air pollution levels – then we have to make the experience appealing. At the moment, the process of waiting for a bus is barely tolerable for many people. Unless the situation is remedied quickly, it will be particularly unpleasant for those bus passengers who are fasting during Ramadan.

But faulty air conditioning is not the only thing inhibiting a greater take-up of public transport. While the buses themselves are of a high standard with a modern cashless payment system, and there are continuing efforts to refine the routes and frequency of services, usage remains relatively low. Clearly there is more to be done to make the experience of bus travel more attractive to people who now use private vehicles or taxis.

For example, bus shelters could be fitted with display screens showing ­real-time information about services. This information could also be available on an app, meaning passengers could plan their travel more efficiently. If a service is running late, for example, passengers could delay their departure from home or their workplace, limiting their waiting time at the bus stop. Shelters could be fitted with free Wi-Fi, allowing people to spend their waiting time on social media or catching up on work.

While these changes will involve some expenditure, they will pay off if they result in fewer cars on the road. A seamless public transport system is essential if we are committed to unclogging our roads and attaining our sustainability targets for the reduction of carbon emissions.