Commuters have again stressed the need to reroute and reschedule some public bus services, saying this will help serve people better and boost patronage in the process.

Sharing their views on the matter with Gulf Times, they claim that passengers are often forced to look for other options - such as taxis - as some of the buses plying in Doha and its immediate neighbourhood follow long and winding routes.

The meandering routes not only make a journey more time-consuming but also add to the time spent by commuters at bus stops as they wait for their bus to arrive, especially when the frequency is not too high, they point out.

Noting that the existing routes could be tweaked and schedules altered accordingly, many of these commuters said such changes were particularly necessary for circular services such as 49/94, 301/302 and 303/304. The routes that these buses - and some others - follow at present are not the ideal ones, they feel.

Some of the passengers suggested that these routes could be shortened or "split". Buses deployed on these services could ply shorter distances as this would significantly bring down the travel/waiting time. Also, rerouting can help cover areas where there is a higher demand for bus services than on some of the existing routes, they contend.

As of now, it takes more than two hours for circular buses plying on routes 301-304 to reach their originating points when they complete their course. Passenger numbers are often "quite low" due to this, according to sources.

Commuters said while the above-mentioned services are often seen going around different localities with only a handful of passengers, there are areas that are "under-served or not touched at all" by these buses. Adequate coverage of these places will lead to a rise in usage as people will be able to board a bus from a place - or somewhere close to it - that is convenient to them, they add.

Further, some bus users said some existing services could be "split" into two, covering smaller areas with a common/overlapping stop from where people can access both routes.

Some passengers pointed to the high demand for bus services on Fridays to reach the Religious Complex area. The existing services encircle a large area within Al Hilal and take an "indirect and long" route to reach the Industrial Area Road before reaching their final destination, they point out. Instead, they suggested, the 12X service to the Religious Complex area should pass through Al Thumama, they felt.