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RTA to pep up, prod drivers with text messages

Safety is a top priority for the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) on its buses and good driving habits are promoted by the authority.

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In a new initiative to keep the morale of drivers up and encourage them to drive safely, it will send two SMSes in their mother tongues every hour.

This is to encourage drivers and lift their morale, reduce traffic accidents, and achieve higher levels of safety and security for passengers and road users, said Eisa Abdul Rahman Al Dosari, CEO of Public Transport Agency of the RTA.

The RTA hopes these measures will help curb accidents on Dubai roads. “We send text messages over mobile phones to drivers in their mother tongues to induce the required effect, encourage them to drive with extra caution, and prompt them to deliver excellent services to commuters so that the number of complaints does not exceed the targeted 22 complaints per 100,000 passengers,” added Al Dosari.

The agency distributed 3,000 brochures urging drivers to avoid triggering the three types of accidents (Red, Green and White) through motivating them to achieve the best scores, and cited the provisions relating to the recognition of drivers as laid down in the Driver Rewards Manual. RTA buses are fitted with state-of-the-art technologies to enhance the safety of bus riders and offer commuters comfortable bus rides.

“As part of our efforts to improve mass transit services and uplift the standards of safety and security onboard public buses, we have recently launched a distinct package of initiatives primarily aimed to push customer satisfaction rating to as much as 87 per cent in 2012, and achieve the targeted bus drivers’ satisfaction rating of 75 per cent in the same year,” Al Dosari said.

He said the RTA is keen to ensure the optimal utilisation of technological systems available in the agency to improve the service offering and raise the levels of safety and security of bus mobility in keeping with RTA’s vision of “Safe and Smooth Transport for All”.

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