Dubai: Smart services by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) are expanding and reducing waiting times at service centres, an official said during the launch of its Happiness Week on Monday at The Dubai Mall.
While development of new apps and services is an ongoing process, the RTA is also expanding the number of its smart kiosks, which are currently available at 17 locations, said Ahmad Mehboob, director, Customer Service, RTA.
Through a private sector outsource partner, the number of kiosks will expand to 100 by the end of 2016. The kiosks have completed over 50,000 transactions to date.
His comments came during the opening of the RTA smart services stand at the mall, which allows people to try out its apps, watch demos and talk to officials.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, opened the Customers’ Happiness Week the RTA is holding for the fourth year in a row. Al Tayer also unveiled RTA’s Happiness Strategy that is aligned with the Dubai Strategic Plan 2021, which sets people’s happiness as a key constituent.
Visitors to RTA’s Stand at Dubai Mall can acquaint themselves with all the services and smart apps relating to motorists, means of submitting applications for services in this regard, and identifying the types and means of transport as well as smart apps and services relating to public transport. A corner is dedicated to explaining the types, recharge and use of NOL cards in public transport means, explained Al Tayer.
Mehboob said not only will more kiosks be rolled out, but more of them will be accessible 24 hours a day. The kiosks offer eight main services, including those connected to car registration, driving licence, and fine payment. Currently, six kiosks are operational round the clock.
The RTA has nine main apps and a website offering 173 services (out of a total of 220 RTA services), and aims to move 80 per cent of all transactions to digital channels by 2018.
As more people started using smart services, there was less rush at traditional service counters, with the result that waiting times at service centres have now dropped to only five to 10 minutes, Mehboob said.
During a tour of the circular RTA stand, which is open 10am to 12am daily until February 20, Mehboob demonstrated how one half of the stand focuses on services for public transport users while the other focuses on services for motorists and private vehicles.
“Unlike time-bound service centres, smart apps don’t have those limits — they are accessible at your convenience at any time,” he added. Mehboob pointed out that app users don’t need to drive or pay for parking, or wait in line.
A.K., an Emirati RTA app user, said he mostly uses the Salik app to top up his Salik account on his mobile. He also completes his car registration formalities through an app.
“It’s no problem; it’s fast and user-friendly,” A.K. said about the RTA smart services system. “However, I wish I didn’t have to wait a week to receive my car registration card. If I physically go to the service centre, I can get it then and there. If you offer an online service, it should be online full-fledged.”
RTA’s Happiness Strategy comprises 12 key pillars, six of them at the community level, and the other six at the individual level, namely, learning through supporting initiatives encouraging reading, promoting knowledge and individual skills, adopting governance, offering sponsorship, supporting Dubai economy, supporting initiatives contributing to thriving business and improved living standards, improving the environment for the benefit of upcoming generations, protecting public health, maintaining the family fabric, enhancing customer relations, and caring for the community and community relationships.
