Sweating it out

This morning I posted quite a long article about public transport in Dubai. My friend Mira read it and although she liked the article, she said that it was too informative and I should avoid things like that on my blog. Damn you Mira!!

Well, I guess she has a point and I doubt many people are going to want to read a 1000 word article on a blog about buses and traffic and so on.

So anyway, if you look at the photo above, you can see 2 guys at a bus stop taking shelter under a tree. I took this photo in July when the outside temperature was 40+ degrees and the feeling of the sun on your head is so intense. I passed some other bus stops as well, where there weren't any nearby tress and some people were holding bits of paper over their heads and some had umbrellas. Why are there no shades over these bus stops? Its a real shame that a city which has all these ultra luxury developments, indoor ski slopes, 7 star hotels, etc, chooses to completely ignore the needs of people who travel on public transport.

To be fair, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) did announce plans to build air conditioned bus stops, but is every bus stop in the city going to be air conidtioned? If not, then there should at least be some simple shaded structures.

Finally, here is a quote from Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister summarising her attitude about public transport:
"A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself a failure.”