Dubai RTA announces 100 smart bus shelters

Source: RTA. An air-conditioned smart shelter for bus riders.

The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) of Dubai has constructed 100 air-conditioned smart shelters for public bus riders based on a public-private partnership (PPP). These shelters, the first of which was launched in February 2016, span more than 15 districts across the Dubai Emirate.

The shelters provide services for public bus riders such as the Free WiFi UAE offered in collaboration with Du, selling and recharging of NOL transport cards, mobile phone top-ups, payment of government bills, recharging mobile phones, passenger information service, self-service kiosks, interactive media screens, monitors displaying information about RTA services, and the sale of refreshments and snacks.

“The initial indicators had shown numerous results including an increase in the number of smart shelters users, compared to the normal air-conditioned bus shelters. The users expressed a great deal of satisfaction in a way that rose from 74% to 91% since the inauguration of the project earlier this year thanks to the smart shelters. The number of different transactions done in the smart bus marked 25,000 transactions up to the end of mid-2016,” said Abdullah Yousef Al Ali, CEO of Public Transport Agency, RTA.

“Constructing 100 air-conditioned smart shelters contributes to one of RTA’s core goals i.e. 'people happiness' as they encourage the public to use mass transit means in Dubai and they contribute to transforming Dubai to the world’s smartest city. The underlying objective of these smart shelters is to upgrade public transport facilities and services through transforming them into smart elements capable of maximising the satisfaction and happiness of various community segments, especially public transport riders.”

"This initiative is an integral part of an ongoing process for improving the infrastructure of these facilities and services in a spectacular and creative style to achieve multimodel integration with public transit means such as the metro and tram," concluded Al Ali.

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The smart air-conditioned bus shelters can be found at Sheikh Zayed Road, Al Wasl, Jumeirah, Deira, Umm Al Romool, Al Quoz, Al Rashidiya, Al Qusais, Al Awir, Al Nahda, Al Satwa, Al Karama, Al Ras, Al Garhoud and Al Jafiliya.