RIYADH — The Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) announced on Monday the start of the second phase of the Riyadh Buses service within the King Abdulaziz Public Transport Project. This phase includes the addition of nine routes; an extension of Route No. 11, which is for buses with a designated lane, and an additional 223 buses that serve passengers covering many districts of Riyadh through 500 new stations and stopping points. With operation of the second phase, the total number of routes that were operational reached 24, and the number of operating buses stood at 560 buses, covering more than 1,100 stations and stopping points, with a length of 1,120 kilometers out of a total network of 1,900 km. The second phase of the Riyadh Buses was launched under the slogan "More buses, routes and stations," which aims to introduce the available services and the additional services that have been introduced in the network. The opening of the second phase coincides with launching of a series of additional features through the official electronic application of Riyadh Buses (riyadh bus) available on various smart phone stores, with the aim of facilitating trip planning and purchasing tickets, by adding the feature titled "choose your destination." The launched features also include additional options for tickets, which give passengers multiple options to purchase tickets with different validity durations such as 3 days, 7 days, or 30 days. These tickets can be obtained through the ticket vending machines available in some bus stations, or through the Riyadh Bus Darb Card that can be purchased or through the application. The Darb Card is available in both digital and print form, making the journey on board the green buses all the more easier. It is noteworthy that the Royal Commission for Riyadh City launched on March 19 the first phase of the Riyadh Buses service. The commission has set the ticket fare for the trip on board the Riyadh buses at SR4. The operation of the bus service is part of the first phase of the King Abdulaziz Public Transport Project. This project, which consists of trains and buses and costs $22.5 billion, is considered the largest public transport project in the world. The commission stated that the Riyadh Buses network, with a total number of over 800 buses, will have a total length of 1,900 km when its five phases become fully operational. This will be operated through 86 lanes serving passengers through more than 2,900 stations and stopping points.
