Public transport is still lagging behind demand

Readers discuss whether petrol price deregulation will increase use of public transport. Other topics: hate-crime law and business class tantrums.

Readers say public transport is not yet ready for people to ditch their cars. Delores Johnson / The National

With regard to your news story, UAE fuel price hike will encourage public transport use, say experts (July 22), I would question whether this will work before the public transport is made more functional.

This is especially so for the many people who commute from the Northern Emirates. You can't expect people to be productive when they are pushed by price squeezes to use underdeveloped public transport. But if you build a fast and efficient mass transit system, we will use it.

Muzammil Sk, Ajman

There are many ways in which public transport can be made more efficient. In Abu Dhabi, for example, most people who want to take the bus to Dubai have to go to the bus station in Al Wahda and then the bus goes past their homes.

One quick fix that will require no new infrastructure is to run a bus from Yas Mall to Dubai.

Long term solutions that will need to be started now include train services to Dubai and Sharjah, as well as light rail and a metro system in Abu Dhabi.

Mikey Bauer, Abu Dhabi

I strongly suggest the government implements a phased strategy where increasing the price of fuel coincides with developing feasible alternatives.

For example, in some economies fuel subsidies were removed when CNG was implemented as an alternative fuel.

Inceasing fuel prices will directly affect inflation and put pressure on prices and the cost of living.

The government must manage this carefully to avoid overheating the economy and lowering the demand for goods and services.

Electric powered vehicles can be a good alternative but that requires investing in infrastructure such as charging stations.

Randall Mohammed, Dubai

My concern is that there are not enough public transport options between Abu Dhabi and Dubai .

My income hasn't increased in two years. I think they should have improved public transport capacity before doing this.

Anna Mayer Rothschild, Dubai

Racism and job discrimination

Some of the reaction to the new hate-crime law (Anti-discrimination law's full scope yet to be seen, July 22) is about whether it would affect discrimination in the hiring process.

Even if this did become the law, it would be very expensive and time consuming for an individual to sue a company. The only ones who would benefit would be lawyers.

Name withheld by request

I believe some nationalities have brought low wages on themselves by accepting ridiculously low pay rates. They accept peanuts and now that is the standard.

Jad Abi Ali, Dubai

Tantrums in business class

With regard to your editorial, Do children belong in business class? (July 21), I might just be lucky but my toddler has never thrown a tantrum in business class.

As great as parents can try to be at teaching our toddlers how to behave, the reality of life is they will still have tantrums at some point. If it happened when we were flying in business class, I would hope others would be understanding – just as I would if it were someone else's baby.

I've seen adults have meltdowns in business class, becoming rude, unruly and drunk or they snore to the point where you would have thought the plane was hitting turbulence.

If I can wear headphones to block out adults with issues, then others can do the same with some understanding for toddlers. If I pay for their seat, children absolutely do deserve to be in business class.

Sharene Ann, Dubai

The part of this issue that doesn't make sense to me is how does someone teach an eight-month-old to behave?

Kids are kids, and if I pay for their seat, it shouldn't matter if it's an adult or a child.

What about business class travellers who snore and act horrendously? Do we introduce a cabin for them too?

Priti Dev-Peters, Abu Dhabi

If you can afford to travel in business class, you can afford noise-cancelling headphones.

Toby Masson, Dubai

Education will boost tolerance

Peter Hellyer's article, Legislation bolsters the battle against intolerance (July 21), makes a great point about how the UAE's diverse communities live alongside each other, but for people to really connect, it must be complemented with educational and cultural programmes.

Jehad Al Mazrooei, Abu Dhabi