Dubai: Starting next year, motorists driving in dedicated bus and taxi lanes will be caught on surveillance cameras and fined Dh600, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) warned on Saturday.
In the first stage, the automated offence reporting system against vehicles in breach of the Bus and Taxi Dedicated Lane code will be enforced from January 1 to the end of March.
The system will be implemeted on the dedicated bus and taxi lane at Naif Street in a sector extending to about 1km, serving nine routes and accommodating as many as 36 buses during peak hours. The RTA will install seven surveillance cameras along the lane to monitor vehicles. Offences will be reported either automatically through surveillance cameras or manually through Dubai Police patrols.
Vehicles permitted to use the dedicated lanes are public buses, taxis, Dubai Police vehicles, Civil Defence vehicles and ambulances attending to emergency cases. Private vehicles are permitted to use the dedicated bus lane only when entering or exiting subsidiary roads.
Mattar Al Tayer, chairman of the Board and executive director of the RTA, said that the enforcement of the code is intended to ease traffic congestion and increase the efficiency of public transportation.
“The enforcement of the code is intended to increase the share of public transport in the movement of people in Dubai, ease traffic congestions, improve the efficiency of bus arrivals, cut the duration of taxi trips, reduce the direct and indirect operational costs of public transport and curb carbon emissions. The dedicated lanes are part of successful global practices encouraging the public to use public rather than private transport and is applied in several cities across North America and Europe,” he added.
Surveys and studies conducted by the RTA revealed that 77 per cent of respondents want the practice of dedicated bus and taxi lanes to be widened to cover other streets in Dubai.
Around 75 per cent indicated that the project contributed to reducing journey time while 86 per cent of bus drivers were satisfied with the project as it had cut short the journey time as well as increased the ridership of mass transit.
