Dubai: Come September, schools in Dubai will have an option of hiring state-of-the-art buses from the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) to transport students.
RTA has launched the new service for the coming academic year with 50 buses, and plans to increase the fleet in phases with up to 650 buses by 2024.
“Dubai has a strength of 253,000 students, of whom 151,000 use school buses, which is 60 per cent, and the RTA is seeking to raise this proportion to 70 per cent. Towards this end the RTA will start operating 50 buses in the next academic year, and the number is set to rise to 650 buses by 2024,” Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, said.
Al Tayer issued an administrative order establishing the School Transport Department affiliated to Dubai Taxi Corporation. Tasks of the new department include mapping annual operation plans, drafting future programmes for school transport activity, contracting with schools to provide students transit services, and operating a bus fleet at the highest quality standards using cutting-edge technologies.
The department comprises three sections: Planning and Commercial Affairs, Bus Maintenance, and Bus Operation.
“The school transport is one of the key public transport sectors in the world, lifting millions of students every day. Engaging the RTA in this activity aims at providing safe and smooth transport for all students of different ages, and playing a leading role in delivering brilliant, safe and high quality services to students in such a way that encourages parents to allow their children to be transported by public transit means instead of private vehicles,” he said.
Al Tayer added that the new service will also support the UAE Education Strategy 2020, raise the bar for school transport, and strike a balance between supply and demand.
Since 2010, RTA has been regulating transport services provided by schools as well as private transport operators offering their services for schools. Through this programme the authority trains and tests bus drivers and supervisors, apart from implementing safety specifications for the buses.
“The number of licensed school bus drivers has grown from 5,581 in 2010 to 8,354 in 2014. The number of bus supervisors leapfrogged from 2,568 in 2010 to 7,579 supervisors in 2014,” said Al Tayer.
He added that RTA undertakes inspection and monitoring of all school buses in 356 public and private schools and nurseries, and reports offences in case of detecting any violation to the rules during scheduled or surprise site visits.
“We are keen on boosting the safety of the school transport sector by running awareness campaigns, holding regular training workshops, and issuing fines to bus operators in breach of the applicable rules. About 2,916 offences were reported in 2010 and the number dropped to 2,467 offences in 2012 before going up to 3,086 offences in 2014,” he informed.
As a result of educative, awareness and law enforcement campaigns, the awareness level of school bus operators has increased, contributing to a drop in the number of school bus accidents following the implementation of regulations, from 81 accidents resulting in one fatality and six injuries in 2007 to 10 accidents in 2010, and the number plummeted further to five accidents and no fatalities in 2014.