Water Bus decision

Five international companies have qualified to operate and maintain Dubai's Water Bus service, the Marine Transportation Agency of the emirate's Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) announced today. The five companies hail from Holland, Australia, Singapore, Turkey and the UK."[The] companies have submitted their bids in alliance with national companies specialised in the field of marine transport," said Abdul Rahman Al Dosari, CEO of Marine Transport Agency at RTA.

The project was put out to offer on May 17 and bids will be opened on May 28. The winning company will be selected on June 4. Scheduled to begin this July at Dubai Creek, the modern air-conditioned Water Bus service will see 12 metre catamarans with a capacity of 35 passengers and a top speed of 12 knots.The service is set to compete with traditional abras, Dubai's creek-crossing water taxis. The waterbuses will operate between drop-off points at Old Deira Souk, Dubai Souk, Sabkha Station and Old Souk Station. The service is expected to move over 2 million passengers in the first year and the number is likely to reach 5 million in future. Source