WAM—Latest statistics cited by the Roads and Transport Authority, RTA, revealed that 13 percent of the total volume of traffic during the morning rush hours in Dubai can be attributed to school buses.
Statistics show that the number of students in public and private schools in Dubai in 2016 reached some 295,000 young people.
“The school transport center witnessed a rapid growth, as school transport trips exceeded 81,000 students per hour and it is set to reach 115,000 trips per hour by 2020, and 176,000 trips per hour by 2030,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA.
“The number of school buses registered in the traffic system has reached 6,500, so far, and is expected to rise to 7,628 buses by 2020 and 14,455 by 2030,” he added.
“The RTA has upgraded the technical specifications of school buses and defined the responsibilities of operators, schools and parents, in order to improve safety and security. Through the comprehensive study for managing the demand on transport, the RTA is currently working on introducing flexi working hours to manage the staggering of working hours and school hours,” he added.
According to Al Tayer, the RTA also intends to conduct a comprehensive study on the school transport sector to come up with solutions and guidelines related to the distribution of schools and their integration with the road and transport network, besides surveying school areas and developing traffic solutions.
The civic body is also poised to enact legislations and incentive programmes to streamline the school transport sector and encourage students to use school buses and mass transit.
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