Dubai: School buses in Dubai have achieved zero fatality rate, having been involved in fewer accidents over the last four years, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has revealed.
According to RTA, the improved safety standards in place since 2009 have led to more parents opting for school buses for their children’s daily trip to and from schools.
Since 2011, the number of pupils using school buses in private schools has increased by 14 per cent, reaching 150,000.
RTA’s school transport regulations include technical specifications for buses, training for bus drivers and attendants as well as clearly delineated responsibilities for all stakeholders such as parents, school administrators and transport operators.
Further enhancing safety standards, RTA is now mulling the introduction of new technologies such as placing sensors underneath bus seats to send cautionary signals in case a child is left behind on board. The measure is aimed at boosting the protection of children and ensuring their security and safety in transit.
Also under consideration are technologies like surveillance cameras and GPS tracking system.
Currently, the safety and technical specifications for school buses are speeds limited to 80km/h, mandatory first aid kit, female attendants, mandatory first aid training for drivers and attendants as well as stop arms on the exterior of the buses.
“The implementation of the School Transport Law has played a pivotal role in securing the safety of students of different ages served by school buses. The proper implementation of the law contributed to reducing the number of accidents involving school buses by 10 per cent,” said Adel Mohammad Shakeri, Director of Planning and Business Development at RTA’s Public Transport Agency.
Shakeri lauded school managements, transport operators as well as parents for their cooperation in carrying out their respective responsibilities to ensure the safety of students.
“At the top of achievements made by the school transport sector in Dubai is the drop in the number of fatalities to zero in 2014, which is indicative of the growing awareness of all stakeholders in the school transport sector in Dubai, that is. the RTA, Emirates Transport, school managements, school transport operators, parents and students,” he added.
Following its policy of continuous review and update of regulations, RTA last year entered into partnership with several reputed and specialised international entities such as the American National Association for Pupil Transport (NAPT) to further improve standards.
Among the other achievements in the school transport sector is the improving social, environmental and economic impact.
“Socially, we have seen various segments of the community embracing the culture of mass transport. We have seen people showing higher confidence in the school transport system, with more attention to the special needs as reflected in designing and deploying of 50 buses to assist the safe and smooth mobility of this segment of the community,” said Shakeri.
The last couple of years have also seen an increase in female bus attendants by 99 per cent and a 36 per cent increase in trained drivers.
Economically, the expansion of the school transport services has resulted in a reduction in parents opting to pick up and drop off their children.
As many as 24,689 hours of road trips were saved, while fuel consumption equivalent to 20,095 hours was also saved due to more parents opting for school buses for their children.
This has resulted in reducing the carbon footprint from vehicles by as much as 22,000kg in four years.
Experts in the school transport sector are calling for more parents to opt for the safety of school buses.
“I would like to see more parents using school buses. There are still a lot of parents, as much as 50 per cent in some schools, who feel school buses are not safe. Following this result they will have to change their opinion,” said Col Augustine, Managing Director of School Transport Service, one of the largest school transport operators in the country.
He added that school buses in Dubai are not just 20 times safer than private cars, they also help in improving the traffic situation around the schools.
“Parents coming to pick up and drop off children in private vehicles cause serious traffic snarls near schools, which causes delays to buses, it also increases chances of accidents. Opting for school buses can help solve several problems,” added Col Augustine.
Last October, RTA banned the use of minbuses in schools, with transport operators given a grace period of 18 months to implement the ban. Among the changes to the technical specifications is rearrangement of seats in 48-seater buses to increase capacity.
