Dubai: A total of 47,849 permits for passenger transport were issued by Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) last year despite the challenges of COVID-19, the RTA announced on Wednesday.
The breakdown was 25,666 permits for taxi drivers; 4,315 permits for school transport drivers; 4,461 permits for school transport assistants, 8,999 permits for limousine drivers; 326 permits for heavy truck drivers; and 4,082 permits for transporting passengers returning to other emirates.
Hussain Al Saffar, director of driver affairs at RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said: “The issuance of 47,849 permits for practising passenger transport drivers including school transport assistants in 2020 illustrates our efforts to maintain the flow of business despite the challenges of COVID-19.”
“Thanks to our digital infrastructure, we managed to turn challenges into opportunities and transformed the entire process of issuing permits into a digital process. The payment of fees has also been activated via RTA’s website,” he added.
Refresher courses
Al Saffar noted: “Last year, we trained 32,665 passenger transport drivers and school transport assistants through a host of induction and refresher courses. Courses were accredited by specialist urban transport organisations worldwide such as the British Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), and the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA).
“The syllabi and instructors were approved by the Spanish National Confederation of Driving Schools (CNAE), a road-safety specialist, and the Institute Of Transport Administration (IoTA), which is dedicated to promoting professionalism in transport in the United Kingdom. The RTA also rolled out several initiatives to fight the spread of COVID-19 and curb its impact on the operational processes of training drivers,” he further explained.
