Dubai's public buses on speed checks

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has upgraded the Automatic Vehicle Monitoring (AVM) system used to monitor the movement of buses by introducing a new technology enabling instant monitoring of bus speed.

The system fitted to buses and linked to the Control Centre aims at conserving the lives and properties.

Explaining the new technology, Musa Al Raeesi, Director of Transportation Systems, RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said: “The new feature is aimed at monitoring RTA’s bus drivers who drive beyond the speed permitted limits whether within the city or on inter-city routes.

“It also enables monitoring the speed of buses on certain roads as well as identifying drivers arriving ahead of scheduled times, in order to ensure high compliance with the On-Time Performance (arrival) of buses (OTP).

“Three reports are monthly published and uploaded to the internal webpage of the internal transportation systems in order to brief the concerned departments about bus speed per route per hour, average bus speed on transport network (city, inter-city service per hour), and the speed/transit time of riders from one point to another per hour,” continued Al Raeesi.

RTA is keen on the safety of public transport users, especially bus riders as they constitute a key transit means for various community segments where about 1512 buses are deployed to serve about 300,000 riders per day.

“It was, therefore, imperative to resort to advanced speed-monitoring technologies as speed is a key factor contributing to traffic accidents and related fatalities as well as the resultant negative impacts on the operational efficiency of bus transport. RTA is keen on holding awareness-raising campaigns to educate drivers about the best driving practices in a bid to realize its vision of providing ‘Safe & Smooth Transport for All’, he further noted.