Abu Dhabi to resume public bus services between its regions

Services were suspended months ago due to the coronavirus outbreak

Ajman is the latest emirate to tighten safety regulations amid a rise in coronavirus cases. Pawan Singh / The National

Public buses to ferry people between the regions of Abu Dhabi emirate will resume on Thursday.

The services were halted months ago to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

On Wednesday, Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport said the buses would resume operations but with safety measures in place. These include regular sanitisation of the buses, reducing passenger capacity to 50 per cent and mandatory use of face masks for all on board, including drivers.

Thermal cameras will also be installed at entrance gates to check the temperatures of passengers.

Services that will be resumed are: X90 between Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Cities, as well as X60, X62, X86, X87 and X88 between Al Dhafra Region and Abu Dhabi City.

Public demand will be monitored to increase bus services accordingly, authorities said.

Abu Dhabi suspended its bus services from April but resumed internal operations from August 19.

On Wednesday, the Integrated Transport Centre also launched a Park & Ride service before the start of Abu Dhabi's toll gate system.

Starting January 2, individuals will be able to park their cars in dedicated areas in the suburbs close to Abu Dhabi island and use free public buses to travel within the city.

Hundreds of parking spaces have been allocated in Al Shahama and Mohammed bin Zayed City for commuters.

Each person in a vehicle will be given a maximum of three Park & Ride tickets to use inside the city.

The new service aims to reduce congestion in the city.