Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) transported around 91 million passengers in over 1.8 million trips on board the public transport buses using 68 routes in 2007, a top official said.

Besides this, the agency also transported over 10 million commuters in 380,000 trips aboard the Inter-city buses using 16 routes,  Essa Al Dosari, CEO of the public transport agency at the RTA said while reviewing its achievements during last year.

Al Dosari reaffirmed that the agency is working towards an integrated plan to develop the services provided by public transport buses through introduction of new buses including the articulated and double-decker buses.

These buses will be imported from the best global origins in order to cover 95 per cent of Dubai's urban areas in three years, he added.

The new inter-city buses will link Dubai to the capital Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Kamiah and Fujairah along with other cities, including Al Ain, Al Thed Masafi and Jebel Ali.

He said that the RTA had bought 170 double-decker buses, 300 articulated buses and 150 traditional ones, Dosari said.

'The first batch of articulated buses was delivered in August 2007 and the second batch would be delivered in June 2008, the traditional buses were delivered in December 2007 and the other batch would be delivered in June 2008, while the double-deckers would be delivered in December 2008,' he noted.

'Tenders have been invited from the top global companies for the supply of 1,616 new sophisticated buses, he added.-TradeArabia News Service