Doha - The much awaited local bus service in Doha takes to the roads from October 1 when Mowasalat, the state-owned public transport company commissions a fleet of 50 buses on the roads of the capital.
Ahmed Al Ansari, Marketing Manager, Mowasalat, said, some of these vehicles will operate between Doha and other cities and townships in the country such as Dukhan, Al Shamal, Al Khor, Al Wakrah and Mesaieed. The rest will be used to launch the bus service within the capital, where residents have to rely upon their own cars or taxis. The company, he said, will also introduce a pass system which will offer carriage at very affordable rates. Such passes would be available for periods such as a week, month or year and preferential, attractive rates would be fixed for such customers. He said, the fleet strength will be increased to 75 buses if justified by the demand.
For long-distance passengers, the bus service will be available at very nominal fares ranging between QR2 and QR7, depending upon the distance to the destination.
The official also disclosed that Mowasalat will take over the school duties from the new academic year for public schools. The company, he said, will commission some 470 buses for the purpose of ferrying such students between their homes and schools - a task that is currently managed by the Ministry of Education.
In addition, Mowasalat will soon deploy more taxis on the roads of the country, especially Doha, to overcome the current shortage of cabs caused due to the phasing out of the older and unregulated service. Currently, some 464 taxis are operated by Mowasalat and the figure was expected to reach 1,000 within the next few months as more cars are delivered to the company. Of these, 63 Toyota Camry vehicles are already with the company, he added.
Meanwhile, the training centre of Mowasalat yesterday held a graduation ceremony for a batch of new drivers of the Qatar Foundation. These drivers, who come from different nationalities, were the first to be trained by the facility for another organisation.
The 24-hour crash course included training in skills such as customer service, vehicle maintenance, road safety, first aid and environment preservation, among others. The official said, the centre had tied-up with a British institute to offer training that conforms to international standards, to drivers. Certificates issued by this centre, he noted, were internationally recognized.
© The Peninsula 2005
