Dubai: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has introduced a 50 per cent discount on the fees of issuing NOL cards starting from July 26 to September 24.
The Automated Fare Collection Systems Department of RTA’s Corporate Technical Support Services Sector said the move intends to attract more people to public transport such as the Metro, public buses, tram and marine transit modes.
“This discount would cover all types of personalised NOL blue cards, which is now issued at a rate of Dh35 (instead of Dh70), and the personalised NOL gold card, which is now issued at a cost of Dh45 (instead of Dh80),” said Khalid Al Awadi, Director of Automated Fare Collection, RTA.
It would also include standard NOL card with special designs, which are issued for Dh65 (instead of Dh100), and NOL gold card with special designs at a cost of Dh65 (instead of Dh110), Al Awadi added.
Al Awadi said the sales of personalised NOL cards during the first half of this year have leapfrogged to 160 per cent compared with the same period last year. He also said the NOL cards seasonal permits have rocketed to 94 per cent when compared to figures reported during the same period last year.
“Achieving these sale figures indicates that the objectives set by the RTA for these initiatives have actually started to be realised in terms of facilitating the use of public transport and encouraging the public to use this,” said Al Awadi.
He said the trend also reveals the soaring demand for using public transport services, and RTA’s paid parking services.
“RTA is always keen on improving its services to cope with the needs of customers where it has broadened the use of unified NOL cards to include inter-city bus service, and is currently pondering the use of the card in other fields to be announced in the near future,” added Al Awadi.
RTA issued on November 11 last year (in concurrence with the start of the Dubai Tram operation) new packages of daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual NOL card subscriptions offering riders of the Metro, tram and public buses discounts on fares up to 47 per cent.
It has also broadened the base of beneficiaries of the 50 per cent fare discount to include (beside students), social benefit recipients and seniors (aged more than 60) among residents as this segment was previously restricted to UAE citizens.
Various types of NOL cards are available at tickets sales offices at Metro stations or public bus stations, NOL cards portal (www.nol.ae), and the ‘Public Transport’ App on smartphones.
