Shalawat Bus Starts Serving Tomorrow's Hajj Candidates

JAKARTA - The free transportation service Bus Shalawat for Indonesian prospective pilgrims in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, is ready to officially operate starting April 30 to welcome the arrival of the first wave of pilgrims from Medina, with 56 special disabled fleets.

"The official operation of the first phase of pre-Armuzna started on April 30. We have prepared for the first 12 clusters that came to Mecca, the buses are on standby in their respective sectors," said Head of Transportation of the Saudi Arabian Hajj Organizing Committee (PPIH) Syarif Rahman in Mecca, Wednesday, April 29, reported by ANTARA.

In this year's hajj season, the government has given special attention to the accessibility of pilgrims. According to him, there has been an increase in the number of special buses for disabled people and wheelchair users from 52 units in the previous year to 56 units.

Unlike regular buses that operate 24 hours a day, he said, the disabled bus operates based on an ordering system (by order) to maintain effectiveness. Each flying group (cluster) that has a minimum of five wheelchair users is required to order the service, especially for the implementation of the obligatory umrah.

Overall, the Bus Shalawat service is operated by a consortium consisting of six transportation companies, namely Syarikah Rawaheel as the consortium chairman, along with Dallah, Hafil, Abu Sarhad, Mawakib, and Rawaf.

The fleet used is a standard city bus (city bus) with a total capacity of 70 people, with 40 seats and 30 hand grips. Standard facilities such as seat belts and drinking water coolers are also available on each fleet.

PPIHArab Saudi ensures that all transportation services from accommodation to the Grand Mosque and vice versa are provided free of charge from the beginning of arrival to the last batch of returning.

Regarding travel time, the tightening of Hajj rules this year is predicted to make traffic flow in Mecca more relaxed. Based on the results of the simulation, the average travel time of the bus from the camp to the Grand Mosque is only around 15 to 20 minutes.

"The longest travel time from Syisyah to Syieb Amir Terminal is only about 20 minutes. If from Aziziyah, Jarwal to Jabal Ka'bah, or Misfalah to Ajyad, it is an average of 15 minutes," said Syarif.

The first phase of the Shalawat bus will continue to operate to facilitate the worship of pilgrims until 5 Dzulhijjah. The service will be temporarily stopped during the peak period of the hajj in Arafah, Muzdalifah, and Mina (Armuzna) on 6-14 Dzulhijjah and will resume normal operation on 15 Dzulhijjah.