Thursday 19 / December / 2024
Muscat: More than two million people have hopped on the bus so far this year, and 40 per cent of them are Omanis, according to the national operator.
The survey stated “this positive indicator reflects the confidence of citizens in public transport and its many benefits.”
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“This increase in the number of passengers on all operating lines is in recognition of the quality of services provided by Mwasalat, as well as the company’s quest to raise awareness among various segments of society about the importance of using public transport in the Sultanate.
The company extends its sincere thanks to all its customers for their use of Mwasalat buses and their remarkable interest in what we offer,” the study said. In the first half of 2017, more than 2.2 million passengers were reported to have been transported by Mwasalat, according to a statement by the Oman National Transport Company.
“Mwasalat transported more than 2.2 million passengers, with a 45.5 per cent growth rate from the same period in 2016,” the statement said.
The analytics provided are for the period of January 1 to June 30, 2017, and pegged the number of daily passengers at 12,000 a day. In 2016, during the same period, more than 1.4 million passengers were transported via the interior and exterior routes.
Last year, 8,000 passengers were estimated to have taken the bus on a daily basis, compared with 12,000 this year. According to one resident in Oman, the majority of people he sees on the buses are expats. “Most of the passengers are expats, especially on Thursday and Friday.
The Mabela route, outside of Carrefour Seeb, is very busy to the extent that there are more than 30 people waiting outside the bus after seats are filled up. It’s affordable and safe.
There are sections for women, families and they have air conditioning and free Wifi. I can believe they’ve had 2.2 million passengers." “It is one of the best means of public transportation, but I do with they would add more bus stops. Between Muttrah Souq and Al Alam Palace, there isn’t a single bus stop, which means people have to walk to the extremes. Also, authorities must make sure there is room for buses to pick up customers,” the resident of five years said.
Mwasalat transported more than 24,000 passengers on the first day of Eid, which breaks the company’s record on highest number of passengers in one day. The route from Ruwi to Al Mabela topped more than 790,000 passengers, followed by the route Ruwi to Wadi Kabir more than 360,000 passengers. Ruwi to Amerat had 340,000 passengers, with Al Khoud to SQU plying more than 240,000 passengers.
The total number of passengers transported in Muscat Governorate stood at 2,060,428. As for the external routes to the different governorates of the Sultanate and the Emirate of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the company transported 146,955 thousand passengers.
