Oman transport: Mwasalat to buy 118 buses this year

Muscat: Mwasalat, the state bus operator, is looking for finance options to buy 118 buses in 2017, according to reports.
“Out of the new buses, 85 will be operated in Muscat and 33 in other regions,” a spokesman said, adding that older vehicles will be replaced.
Recently, Ahmad bin Ali Al Bulushi, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mwasalat, said that passengers in Mwasalat buses will receive free unlimited access to WiFi by the end of the first quarter of 2017. The service will enable passengers to surf the Internet through portable devices, tablets or smartphones, enabling them to save time.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, the official said that technicians were now testing the devices to be set up in the buses.
“Once the testing is complete we will able to roll out the new feature, which will be of great use for our passengers. Once it is ready, Mwasalat will publish details on how to use free WiFi on its buses,” he said.
Mwasalat employs 817 workers, including 710 Omanis.
According to November 30, 2016 statistics, Mwasalat transported nearly 3.6m passengers in its first year of operations.
In Muscat, the Ruwi-Mabella route saw the heaviest rush with buses transporting more than 1,500,000 passengers.
This was followed by Ruwi-Wadi Kabir route, which had more than 800,000 passengers, Ruwi-Muttrah-Qasr Al Alam route with more 300,000 passengers and the Ruwi-Wadi Adai route carried more than 250,000 passengers.
The buses transported 272,905 passengers on intercity routes from Muscat to other governorates including Muscat-Sohar-Buraimi, Muscat-Nizwa-Salalah and Muscat-Sohar-Dubai routes.