Dubai: The world celebrates International Transportation Day every year on November 1, in order to encourage the use of public transport as a mean transportation, given its important role in preserving the environment from pollutants resulting from the traditional fuels used by vehicles, and in reducing traffic congestions.
Eng. Yousef Saleh Al-Suwaji, Chairman of Sharjah Roads and Transport Authority (SRTA) said that SRTA has launched several initiatives that support the mass transportation system and promote public transportation in order to achieve sustainable development, which included adopting and embracing sustainable innovations made in the field of transportation. “These contribute to achievement of our plan towards an environmentally sustainable and civilised transport. Further, in order to keep pace with population growth and the resulting traffic densities, all concerned bodies are obliged to find alternative and environmental solutions when developing transport infrastructure,” Al-Suwaji said.
Green move
Besides its fleet of interurban buses and public transport buses that roam the emirate’s streets, SRTA recently launched the first electric bus in the emirate, an ambitious step towards promotion of sustainable transport, as one of the key factors for reaching an eco-friendly and more energy efficient transport systems, and reducing carbon emissions.
Al-Suwaji also confirmed that SRTA is working on encouraging people to use public transport. SRTA has launched 28 air-conditioned passenger waiting stations across Sharjah as a first stage, and the rest areas of the emirate will be covered in the next stages.
Taxi fleet
SRTA also operates a fleet of modern taxi vehicles, which includes more than 750 hybrid vehicles to preserve the environment.
Recently, SRTA announced the launch of new On-Demand Mobility service in Sharjah, and adoption of a fleet of Tesla electric vehicles by the end of 2020. The service will be available in the Sharjah first and will be later extended to the rest of the emirates. This service will be provided in partnership with ION Sustainable and Smart Mobility Solutions based in the UAE. The new service will be made available through a smartphone app.