Riding a bus inKuwait can be exhausting - waiting under the sun for ages wondering when thebus will arrive or what is the number of the bus that will go to yourdestination! Taking the wrong bus will make you spend hours and more money toreach the place you want to go. Since my car was totaled in an accident, Ibegan to use taxis, but they cost me a lot of money. I found that somedestinations can be reached by bus, so I started to take the bus to work, mallsand other places.
Since I like totravel, I use public transportation a lot, using Google Maps to get the busnumber and timings. Unfortunately, it is not that easy in Kuwait because thereis no bus timetable, no clear stops, and no one to help - even the bus driverdoes not know the destinations of other buses!
But people ofKuwait will not struggle anymore, because Citybus has created an application oniOS and Android to help people learn about its bus routes, time of arrival andnearest bus station. You can even type where you want to go and it will showyou the nearest stop, which bus to take and how long your trip will be.
This seemed toogood to be true - since Kuwait is not known for this kind of technology or bussystem - so I tried it. Waiting for the bus, the app showed the bus will reachmy stop after seven minutes. After six minutes, the bus arrived. The app toldme I will reach my destination in 37 minutes - once again it was right. The appis super useful, and although it sometimes freezes and does not show how toreach faraway destinations, it is a great step for Kuwait. Hopefully, one daysuch apps will help tourists reach places of interest.
By Faten Omar