Dubai widens bus network with new routes and stops
With graphic Five new bus routes will begin operation this week to meet a rising demand for public transport in Dubai, while new stops are added to four existing routes.
DUBAI // Five new bus routes will begin operation on Friday to meet rising demand for public transport in Dubai. Four existing routes have also had stops added to conclude at new bus stations, the Roads and Transport Agency (RTA) said yesterday.
The new bus routes include route 84, which starts at Al Khail Gate in Al Quoz, passes through the city’s art district and terminates at Mina Seyahi. The route makes stops at Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Marina’s The Walk along the way.
Route 366 connects Rashidiya Metro station with the relatively isolated yet popular Silicon Oasis residential development.
Route F12 is a Dubai Metro feeder service, which runs from Jafiliya station through Satwa to the popular Al Wasl Park, which did not previously have a connection to the Metro.
The fourth is Route 21, which connects Zuleikha Hospital to Al Ahli Club. The final new route is E307A, which will take passengers from Abu Hail Metro Station to Sharjah.
The route changes include a new stop at Al Nadha Park on route 22 and a stop on Doha Road on route 13A.
Both Route 365 from Rashidiya Metro station and the F3 feeder service will make stops at Al Ittihad Mall via Al Khawaneej Road.
“The RTA keenly attends to suggestions and feedback from all community segments with regards to the widening of our public transport network,” said Eisa Al Hashimi, the acting director of Planning and Business Development at the RTA’s Public Transport Agency.
He said the new routes were devised after suggestions from the community and the completion of internal studies.
“We are always keen on broadening the reach of the bus network within the emirate of Dubai as well as the Inter-City bus network, and frequently conduct studies and field surveys to identify the mobility needs of mass transit users in Dubai to meet them at the earliest time possible,” said Mr Al Hashimi.
Nils El Accad, chief executive and owner of Organic Foods and Café, says going green is about “lifestyle and attitude” rather than a “money change”; people need to plan ahead to fill water bottles in advance and take their own bags to the supermarket, he says.
“People always want someone else to do the work; it doesn’t work like that,” he adds. “The first step: you have to consciously make that decision and change.”
When he gets a takeaway, says Mr El Accad, he takes his own glass jars instead of accepting disposable aluminium containers, paper napkins and plastic tubs, cutlery and bags from restaurants.
He also plants his own crops and herbs at home and at the Sheikh Zayed store, from basil and rosemary to beans, squashes and papayas. “If you’re going to water anything, better it be tomatoes and cucumbers, something edible, than grass,” he says.
“All this throwaway plastic - cups, bottles, forks - has to go first,” says Mr El Accad, who has banned all disposable straws, whether plastic or even paper, from the café chain.
One of the latest changes he has implemented at his stores is to offer refills of liquid laundry detergent, to save plastic. The two brands Organic Foods stocks, Organic Larder and Sonnett, are both “triple-certified - you could eat the product”.
The Organic Larder detergent will soon be delivered in 200-litre metal oil drums before being decanted into 20-litre containers in-store.
Customers can refill their bottles at least 30 times before they start to degrade, he says. Organic Larder costs Dh35.75 for one litre and Dh62 for 2.75 litres and refills will cost 15 to 20 per cent less, Mr El Accad says.
But while there are savings to be had, going green tends to come with upfront costs and extra work and planning. Are we ready to refill bottles rather than throw them away? “You have to change,” says Mr El Accad. “I can only make it available.”
Fixtures
Friday, April 12, Malaysia v UAE
Saturday, April 13, UAE v Nepal
Monday, April 15, UAE v Kuwait
Tuesday, April 16, UAE v Singapore
Thursday, April 18, UAE v Oman
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