Dubai: On the heels of a court case on alleged sexual molestation of a four-year old pupil inside a school bus, a bus operator is going the extra mile with plans to fit youngsters with a "wearable" Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to give parents a log of the time they spent in school buses.
Fancy Transport, the city's second-biggest transport ope-rator with a fleet of around 200 buses, has installed the RFID readers in 15 buses and is currently testing the system with one school, an official said.
Fancy's General Manager Kamran Ahmad said the system is part of a Dh1 million retrofit to make school buses safer. "We're thinking of embedding the chip in a bracelet for small children and pre-schoolers," he said. "It will be read as they board and alight the buses."
Older students will use a traditional ID card, with an RFID chip in it, which they must swipe as they get on and off the bus. Data will be stored for two years. "When tracking technology is available, a bus or a student's whereabouts should not be a secret," he said.
Fancy's school buses are fitted with two CCTV cameras and GPS gear. An additional in-cabin CCTV camera is also being planned for the entire fleet. The buses are also fitted with motion and temperature sensors. The GPS tracking system allows parents to track the bus from any internet access point. It also tracks the driver who is issued a unique digital ID to switch on the ignition.
"The new system will add another layer of safety," said Arman Taghian, Regional Manager of US-based Gatex, the company that is currently installing the system .
