Around 25M use Sharjah public transport in six months

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Around 25M use Sharjah public transport in six months

The call centre of the SRTA received 280,000 calls over the first half of the year.

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Published: Wed 25 Jul 2018, 2:09 PM

Last updated: Wed 25 Jul 2018, 4:14 PM

There is a significant rise in residents using public transport in the first six months of the year, according to Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority (SRTA).
According to a top official, 24.8 million passengers used the Sharjah public transport, which included 11.9million taxi rides and 187,622 trips by the public buses during the first half of the year.
Sheikh Saqr bin Sultan Al Qasimi, director of the franchise and licensure department, said that the Eastern Region saw 1,037 advance reservations with Khor Fakkan recording the maximum number of bookings, which stood at 4,136.
Records also say the 180 regular women-only, and family taxis available round the clock at the Sharjah International Airport got 202,187 trips on an average of five trips a day.
Al Qasimi added that public buses recorded a nine per cent rise in ridership compared to the same period last year, with 3.13million relying the buses on nine routes.
Meanwhile, the call centre of the SRTA received 280,000 calls over the first half of the year. "These included 175,690 calls for booking taxis, 57,000 inquiries, 3,936 reports on lost items, 91 suggestions, and others."
The transport authority also launched five intensive inspection campaigns across the emirate to curb illegal taxi drivers. He reminded that illegal drivers will have to pay a fine of Dh5,000 if they were caught for the first time, and Dh10,000 for repeated violation.
He added: "Besides, while 21 staff inspectors registered 1,653 violations, 4,204 tickets were issued against erring drivers during the inspection campaigns."
- ahmedshaaban@khaleejtimes.com
 


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