Dubai: Misuse of dedicated bus lanes will be dealt with seriously from the end of March and the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has begun to send SMS notifications to violators, warning them of impending fines.
A senior RTA official told Gulf News that as many as seven cameras have been installed on Naif Road to monitor the dedicated bus lane on the road and the system is already active.
“We are starting the system with one street for now. The system is already active on Naif Road and we have started sending notifications to motorists who are misusing the dedicated bus and taxi lanes. Gradually we will move to other routes that have dedicated bus lanes,” said Adel Shakeri, Director of Transportation Systems at RTA’s Public Transport Agency.
He added that motorists will have a grace period until the end of March and after that RTA will start issuing fines of Dh600 every time a vehicle other than RTA buses uses the dedicated bus lane.
“We have started an awareness campaign and we want to make sure people know about the fines before we implement it. Dh600 is a big amount so we don’t want people to say that they were not aware,” added Shakeri.
The system aims at improving time performance of the buses and help buses move quicker.
“There will be a three per cent to five per cent improvement in the punctuality of buses and the idea is to improve the efficiency of buses and encourage more people to use public transport.”
Motorists who turn right on Naif Road will have a grace distance of 25 metres and any use of the lane beyond that will incur fines.
The system monitors a kilometre-long stretch, serving nine bus routes and accommodating as many as 36 buses during peak hours.
Vehicles permitted to use the dedicated lanes are public buses, taxis, Dubai Police vehicles, Civil Defence vehicles and ambulances attending to emergency cases. Private vehicles are permitted to use the dedicated bus lane only when entering or exiting subsidiary roads.
Initiated in 2010, RTA has built dedicated bus lanes at several locations, including Mankhool Street, Ittihad Road, Khalid Bin Al Waleed Road, Al Mina Street and Al Khaleej Road.
RTA has identified at least 14 congested areas for dedicated bus lanes which, according to a survey, improves the efficiency of bus services by 30 per cent.
Surveys and studies conducted by the RTA revealed that 77 per cent of respondents want the practice of dedicated bus and taxi lanes to be widened to cover other streets in Dubai.
Around 75 per cent of respondents indicated that the project contributed to reducing journey time while 86 per cent of bus drivers were satisfied with the project as it had cut short the journey time as well as increased mass transit ridership.
