By Shafaat Shahbandari, Staff Reporter www.gulfnews.com
Dubai: Despite repeated assurances from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) a huge number of bus shelters in Dubai still have no air conditioners.
With summer just a few weeks away, there is no sign that this lack will be rectified soon.
Last year, Gulf News reported that more than 150 bus shelters across the city either had no power connections to operate ACs or had non-working ACs, forcing commuters to face the extreme heat inside the aluminium stops.
According to RTA, there are a total of 898 AC bus shelters, out of which 130 are still not operational.
“There are 101 locations where we don’t have power connectivity, these locations have 130 bus shelters. We are coordinating with relevant authorities to get the power lines to these shelters. We managed to get power for around two dozen shelters last year and this year more will follow,” said Mohammad Al Ali, Director of Buses at RTA’s Public Transport Agency.
RTA launched AC bus shelters in 2008 and since then only a third of bus stops in Dubai have been equipped with ACs. However, power supply issues to some of these shelters seem to have stalled the project. More info
