Public Policy Lab aims to do more public advocacy and outreach to push for improved bus routes and human-centric transportation policy in Malé. This analysis identifies immediate, practical changes to existing routes that would make public transport a realistic option for commuters rather than requiring motorcycle ownership. The goal is to build public awareness and support for these changes and to demonstrate that better public transport is not a distant aspiration but an achievable improvement with existing infrastructure.

The current system treats the bus between Male' and Hulhumale almost as if this were a bus depot or airport trip between two distant cities, where people hop on a bus to a distant city’s bus depot or train station and then find further transport from the station to where they need to go.

A city’s public transport should be about actually getting to where you need to go, especially when Hulhumale and Male’ are both just areas of the same overall Male’ City. The expectation of using public transport within a city is that it will get you where you need to go and be a feasible substitute to private vehicles or expensive rideshares/taxis. If using the bus requires you to still use a motorcycle just to get to and back from the bus stop, it’s not functioning as municipal public transport, it’s operating more like an airport.

This article very briefly looks at and recommends immediate changes and shifts that can be brought to make public transport more usable as a key element of a smart and liveable city.

Small extension to Carnival route

This simple extension of the Carnival bus route adds just around 8 minutes to the bus route, while allowing employees at Velaanaage, President’s Office, Bank of Maldives, MTCC, Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry, Police Building, MMA, MNDF, and Majidiyya School among several other employers in this central few blocks for business and government employment in the Maldives, to have the bus stop at their doorstep. This also stops at a minute or two walk away from National Library, Sultan Park, CHSE, Youth Third Space, People’s Majlis, Arabiyya School, and Maldives Islamic Bank, among other employers.

This allows employees based in Hulhumale Phases 1 and 2 to all be able to use public transport to reach their jobs directly. When the only way to use public transport is to stop at the Carnival bus stop and then walk a kilometre in the blazing sun sweating to get into the office, people aren’t going to bother and will just take motorcycles to and from work. Thousands of employees work in these buildings but when the bus from Hulhumale doesn’t stop by these offices, it prevents public transport from being a really viable option.

A tiny tweak in Hulhumale bus route

There is another, even more straightforward change – adding just a further 700 metres, around 2 minutes including stops, by having the bus stop at the doorstep of Umar Zahir Office Building and intended other government offices being built in that site, MFLC, and MPL Hulhumale as well as passing by Tree Top Hospital to immediately get back on route. Orchid Maa Hingun through Asurumaa Hingun are very wide, low-traffic streets where a bus would not be disruptive, the tiny stretch between the Reethigas Magu/Orchidmaa Hingun intersection and Reethigas Magu/Asurumaa Hingun intersection is around 200 metres with no bus stop, so the diversion wouldn’t cause anyone in the flats or Ghaazee School would have to walk any further for a bus stop -- a stop in front of MFLC would actually be a slightly shorter walk to those in the flats between around Rabarugas Magu and Orchidmaa Hingun than the Amin Avenue bus stop currently is. With this very minimal diversion allowing employees to stop directly at the doorstep of 5 government institutions with more being built, employees, particularly those living in Phase 2 and working at these buildings, will be able to easily go to and from work. In particular, this would mean that the trip to and from office for those living in Hiya Flats would be doorstep-to-doorstep.

Extension to West Park route

This is a potential similarly simple – not as simple as the previous, but still relatively so – extension to the West Park route, which adds about 10 minutes to a loop while still keeping all the same stops on the way there and way back. Instead of stopping at West Park and then reversing for the same route, this route adds a loop before returning to the same area by Rasfannu and then through Dharumavantha bus stop and on in the regular West Park return route. The difference is that with this route, employees for MPL, MMA, MNDF, Islamic Centre, National Library, Police Building, Culture Ministry, Aminiyya School, Iskandar School, and many businesses in Majeedhee and Chandhanee Magu can now step out at their workplace’s doorstep. Employees at the President’s Office, Velaanaage, CHSE, Youth Third Space, and others can now stop at a minute or two from their workplace.

Those in Hulhumale Phases 1 and 2 working at any of these buildings can now use both routes at a high frequency to get to their place of work directly, since both stop close to each. For even the proposed small extension of the Carnival line, this also allows for bus transfers between the Carnival line and West Park line at Jumhooree Maidan, giving those on any route access to every stop on the other route.

For the proposed further extended Carnival line, this also allows for transfers between buses at West Park bus station or Jumhooree Maidan.

Potential more extensive addition for Carnival route

This is a potential longer extension the Carnival line to allow employees at Velaanaage, President’s Office, Bank of Maldives, MTCC, Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry, Police Building, MMA, MNDF, Majidiyya School, Islamic Centre, Library, Culture Ministry, Iskandar School, Aminiya School, Maafannu Madharusaa, businesses in Majeedhee Magu and Henveiru, Youth Ministry, Social Centre, Planning Department of MoFP, MPL, MMA to all have the bus stop at their doorsteps. This drops students off right at the doorstep of Iskandar School, Aminiyya School, Majidiyya School and under a minute from the doorstep to CHSE, Sultan Park, National Library, and Youth Third Space buildings. It also drops off employees a minute or two walk away from National Library, Sultan Park, CHSE, Youth Third Space, People’s Majlis, Arabiyya School, Maldives Islamic Bank, STO, and IGMH among others.

This route connects all these businesses not just to those living in Hulhumale Phases 1 and 2 but also to people living in Male’ closer to this new bus route. Since this bus now also stops at West Park bus station, anyone using the West Park bus and the Carnival bus can transfer routes at West Park, which makes everything on this route now also accessible to everyone that could use the West Park bus route. This makes everywhere on both routes mutually accessible with just one bus transfer.

The orange outlines are a radius of roughly 300m from the Carnival bus stop which is the closest bus from Hulhumale to the core business districts. This is around the distance that people might accept walking instead of driving. The distance to the actual centre where many major employers are all clustered together is not somewhere people are walking to from the bus stop from Hulhumale.

Potential alternative routes for a bus stopping at West Park

Option 1

These two are potential alternate routes for a bus line from Hulhumale. One mostly follows the West Park route but also goes through either the full length of Majeedhee Magu, making the bus routes close enough for those living in the bands a short walk from Majeedhee Magu on both sides as well. This means that everyone in Male’ that is a short enough walk from either almost anywhere in Boduthakurufaanu Magu or Majeedhee Magu can now reach Hulhumale easily and vice versa. With Boduthakurufaanu Magu being a perimeter road, the current path has the majority of residents deeper within the city not able to easily get a bus to Hulhumale or those in Hulhumale unable to easily get a bus to the city centre of Male’.

If the only way for most Male’ residents to go to Hulhumale by bus is driving a motorcycle from their home to one of the perimeter bus stops, then people might as well just drive the whole way to Hulhumale instead of driving partway and parking and taking the bus again and so on. So this alone likely suppresses the actual use of public transport. With a line running through Majeedhee Magu, far more of Male’ residents are within an easy walk of going to Hulhumale, and Hulhumale residents coming to Male’ are within an easy walk of much more of Male’.

Option 2

The next of these creates another connection point between the two bus routes at Jumhooree Maidan, even if the Carnival route only does make the very small extension out of the two proposed. This way, now both routes from Hulhumale stop near the cluster of major employment in the core business and government district.

Those in Hulhumale Phases 1 and 2 working at any of these buildings can now use both routes at a high frequency to get to their place of work directly, since both stop close to each. For even the proposed small extension of the Carnival line, this also allows for bus transfers between the Carnival line and West Park line at Jumhooree Maidan, giving those on any route access to every stop on the other route. While different from the one going through Majeedhee Magu, this route also covers a much bigger swathe of Male than the current route.

Combining the two routes together, we can cover much of Male’.

Alternative routes and expansion

The options so far have been aimed to be either minimally disruptive or relatively less disruptive without requiring any new bus paths. There is an alternate way to supplement the minimally disruptive proposed extension of the Carnival line (up to Jumhooree Maidan and past Velaanaage) and West Park line (up to Jumhooree Maidan down Chaandhanee Magu and through the east half of Majeedhee Magu).

Adding one more line from Hulhumale through Ameenee and Majeedhee Magu can bring more equity and full coverage across Male’. This route also links Hulhumale to Dharubaaruge and associated ministries, Kalaafaanu School, STELCO, Rihijehi Koshi, BML Customer Service Centre, Rehendhi Flats, Imaduddin School, Billabong International School, MNU, MWSC, MIRA, Finance Ministry, Ghiyasuddin School, many of the sports and turf grounds, Dhiraagu, Villingi Ferry Terminal, Thaajuddeen School, Hiriyaa School, Youth/Social Centre, Maafannu Madharusaa, all the businesses on and near Majeedhee Magu, MBC, Maldives National Stadium, ADK Hospital, Civil Service Commission, Dhamanaveshi, Henveiru Stadium, Children's Library. Communities in more central areas of Male’ also get to travel more regularly to Hulhumale.

Of course, there are within-Male’ buses which do routes through Ameenee Magu and Majeedhee Magu as well as within the city, but the smaller within-city buses are both less accessible for direct connections between Hulhumale-Male’ without multiple transit stops and are much less normalized than the Male’-Hulhumale buses. To encourage public transport use, the most common routes should be served consistently and with just as much ease.

Between the very small extension of the Carnival line up to Jumhooree Maidan through the government district, the small extension of West Park line up to Jumhooree Maidan through Chaandhanee Magu, and a third Hulhumale-Male’ bus route through Ameenee and Majeedhee Magu, almost every home in Male’ will be a few minutes from a bus stop to Hulhumale, and almost every location in Male’ will be a few minutes walk after a bus ride to everyone in Hulhumale.

Final recommendations

Final recommendation for easier rollout and maximum impact. First, extending the Hulhumale route after Amin Avenue to stop at the government offices taking an extra 2 minutes with no diversions is a step that can be taken immediately. Rolling out the extension of the Carnival bus stop to cover the government district so employees can arrive at work on its doorstep can also be done relatively quickly, within less than a month. The tweak to the Amin Avenue route is an immediately implementable and impactful change. These two changes alone will have very significant impacts on usability of public transport. This very small extension of the Carnival line alone makes taking public transport directly to work an actually practical option for a lot of employees.

From there, expanding the West Park route can be planned out. This can be done with the existing bus fleet. Eventually, as a public transport system that better meets people’s needs instead of requiring motorcycle use just to get to and from bus stops in the first place, the increased normalization and increasing demand for public transport can justify the addition of a new route that also allows those living in the more central areas of Male’ to easily travel to and from Hulhumale just as freely.