Mwasalat popular among Omanis

Nov 29: More Omani families, including women passengers are availing the now Mwasalat bus services as per the sources.

The number of Omani women travelling in Mwasalat is high in routes such as Ruwi-Mabela, Ruwi-Muttrah and Ruwi-Amerat.

“It is not possible to reveal the exact number of Omani women passengers using the public transport, but certainly there is more acceptance of the system,” said an official in Ruwi.

“These buses are comfortable, wellmaintained, and clean and follow a fixed schedule unless there are traffic delays and congestions. There are special seating arrangements for family and women passengers,” added the official.

Meanwhile, the company also plans to offer advanced and value-added facilities such as free Wi-Fi and in the future

Ahmed Ali al Balushi, CEO, Mwasalat, confirmed to the Observer on Tuesday that the free Wi-Fi will be available soon, hopefully by the year- end.

As of September, the company has been ferrying over 10,000 passengers a day since the launch in November last year.

“With fuel prices on the higher side and so the parking problems in most commercial districts, it makes sense to use buses whenever possible,” Khamis al Balsushi, a government employee.

Bus services may be one of the oldest modes of public transport in the world, but that has been case with Oman. “I never had an idea that we had a bus transport system within Muscat. I always thought it only was for Salalah, Dubai or may be Buraimi or Sohar. Now, you find red colour buses on roads at any point of time and even Omani families using them,” he said.

“If they can take a public bus in Dubai or London or Bangkok, why not in Muscat if the services are good and cheap,” Khamis added.

The response for a selfie contest conducted by Mwasalat for the national day confirmed the growing liking for the system by Omani population as well the traditional car-users.

“I enjoy travelling in these buses as they have safety features and more comfortable seating arrangements for women compared to taxis,” Lubna, who is employed with a boutique.

The company has plans to introduce more buses as many as 118 to its fleet in the next year, which will help cut down on the waiting time at bus stops.