Plans to install 172 air-conditioned bus stops will help to ease the daily commute of thousands of residents.
Bus users have complained of having to endure the heat because the bus shelters did not provide shade.
The air-conditioned bus stops would be set up across the city, said the Sharjah Urban Planning Council. They will run on solar power and feature electronic boards that display information on bus routes and schedules.
Using a newspaper for shade while waiting for a bus on Al Wahda Street, Zahara Ibrahim said the air-conditioned shelters could not come soon enough.
“My bus ride is usually about 15 minutes to my office near Safeer Mall. However, waiting under the sun for 10 to 20 minutes is unbearable, especially in July and August,” said the 28-year-old Pakistani secretary who lives in Abu Shugara.
Her brother, Mohammed Ibrahim, welcomed news of the air-conditioned bus stops, saying they would match the standards of those in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
“We have used bus stops in Dubai and they gave us shelter, cut road noise and help us from having to breathe car fumes while we wait in the scorching heat,” said the 27-year-old salesman.
The Sharjah Urban Planning Council hoped the new bus stops would encourage more people to use public transport.
“Each shelter was designed taking into account the needs and capacity of each location. Sharjah Urban Planning Council, in collaboration with the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority, will provide the new bus stops with solar energy panels for electricity,” said Khalid Al Ali, the council’s secretary general.
Marrie Cruz, a 31-year-old Filipino medical assistant, said she looked forward to not having to use her umbrella for shade while waiting for a bus.
“I’ve always hoped to have air-conditioned bus stops. I use public transport about four or five times a day on average, and spending so much time under the sun is something that I don’t really enjoy,” she said.
“I hope the new bus stops will be set up really soon at Al Jubail Bus Station.”
Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi, the council’s chairman, said it was striving to provide the best possible public transport services.
Last year, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority announced its plan to install 400 solar-powered bus shelters, which would be air-conditioned if there was enough public demand. That would bring the emirate’s total number of air-conditioned bus stops to 1,285.
In Abu Dhabi, the first air-conditioned bus stops were delivered in 2009.
Sharjah has yet to disclose the locations of the first batch of 28 air-conditioned bus stops.
Source: The National
