Dubai’s RTA to trial smart app to meet demand for medium-sized bus services

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is launching a digital platform on a trial basis in the form of a smart app to meet and asses public demand for its medium-sized bus services.

The authority recently signed an agreement with arcab, a mobility service, to enable the trial and digital platform.

The trial platform will be operational in two of Dubai’s districts. The first route will take commuters between International City/Dubai Silicon Oasis and Jebel Ali Free Zone.

The second route will shuttle between the International City and JLT. Following a three-month trial, the service will expand to include 12 other districts in Dubai.

The platform will play a vital role in generating demand for micro-mobility networks by opening routes for medium-sized buses, aiming to attract a new segment of riders. The platform is flexible enough to undertake changes in mobility and journeys to match demand patterns.

The agreement was made in collaboration with the Dubai Future Accelerators Programme, one of the initiatives of the Dubai Future Foundation, which was launched by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council in 2016 to set up a platform combining government entities, start-ups, and business leaders from all over the world.

Ahmed Hashem Bahrozyan, CEO of Public Transport Agency, RTA, said: “Joining forces with the private sector will strengthen RTA’s public-private partnership, which RTA always seeks to undertake as a means of enhancing its public service offerings such as transportation on medium-sized buses, especially in districts and localities normally not covered by buses.”

Bilal Shabandri co-founder and CEO of arcab, said, “We are pleased to partner with RTA to provide solutions that benefit thousands of passengers, in perfect fit with the excellent public transport system that Dubai has developed over the years.”

In partnership with Dubai Future Accelerators, RTA and arcab will introduce ‘arcab Traveler’, a new service in the UAE that will assist people in travelling to and from work and home daily. The service is an extension of the services RTA currently provides, which include smart services, e-hailing, shared transport and Bus-On-Demand.

In other news, RTA announced that it achieved its targeted energy efficiency performance indicators 2021 and reduced total energy consumption in all operations and projects by 18 per cent, compared with the average consumption from 2016 to 2019.

Read: Dubai’s RTA sees 18% drop in energy consumption across its operations