All public buses in Abu Dhabi have suspended their services “until further notice” according to the UAE’s official news agency WAM.
The announcement was made at 11pm on Wednesday April 23.
#ITC suspends public bus services and continues operation of #AbuDhabi Healthcare Link Service#WamNews https://t.co/2YwG2PlKpq pic.twitter.com/5lkE95Hxum
— WAM English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) April 22, 2020
In a separate statement, the Abu Dhabi Department of Municipalities and Transport (DMT) announced that a 48-hour sterilisation campaign would be launched to disinfect all public buses in the city.
.@AbuDhabiDMT, in collaboration with its strategic partners, will conduct a 48hr sterilisation campaign of public bus services from tomorrow morning. pic.twitter.com/pKNXG0hsad
— ÃÂàÃÂÃÂÃÂêÃÂè ÃÂãÃÂèÃÂÃÂÃÂøÃÂèÃÂàÃÂçÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ¥ÃÂùÃÂÃÂÃÂçÃÂàÃÂà(@admediaoffice) April 22, 2020
Effective from today (Thursday, April 23) buses in Abu Dhabi will not be available but the accelerated disinfection programme is designed to facilitate the reopening of bus services on Saturday April 25 at 6am.
The free bus on-demand Abu Dhabi Healthcare Link service for medical employees will continue to operate.
A statement said: “The suspension of public buses aims to preserve the safety of bus users and comes within a series of precautionary measures that are followed to stop the outbreak of coronavirus.
“ITC has taken a set of precautionary measures to ensure public safety. These measures include an extensive cleaning and sterilisation of all public means of transport, including buses, taxis, ferries and public facilities. This all aims at maintaining the public safety and contributing to the efforts dedicated towards preventing the risk of coronavirus.”
Taxis in Abu Dhabi will still be available for those who need public transport over the weekend.
