With the aim of improving Dubai and RTA's reliable school transport service, RTA's Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) announced its plan to run a fleet of 368 buses to lift about 8873 students in 17 schools contracted for the new academic year. The number of buses and schools grew from 270 buses serving 14 schools during the academic year 2016-2017.
The buses are smart, environment-friendly and fitted with safety and security features as well as well-trained drivers and supervisors. Each bus is equipped with surveillance cameras connected to monitors at DTC's Control Center to monitor students' movement while sitting and alighting from buses.
Parents can track the movement of their children's journey from and to the school by installing a new smart app DTC School Bus, in addition to the GPS satellite system, which sends notifications to parents about the time their children board or alight from buses in their shuttle between schools and homes.
New technologies added to the school bus fleet enhance the safety of students. The engine switch off button is now located at the rear end of the bus behind the seats. So the driver is obliged to walk through up to the end of the bus to stop the engine, meanwhile ensuring that no student is left behind on the bus before the doors are locked.
RTA's Public Transport Agency is also all set to run the annual inspection service targeting school buses and service operators to verify their compliance with rules, including the licensing of drivers and supervisors to practice the service. The most frequent offences reported in the past related to the technical specifications set by the RTA for the exterior and interior of school buses.