About RTA Abu Dhabi
We are here talking about a government road and transport authority (RTA) that is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Dubai. It is known for planning and executing traffic and transport projects in Dubai with all the strategic planning on the board for transportation in the city. According to 2017 report, it has 6,310 employees and has presented the annual budget of 7.609 billion AED in 2016.
When it came into existence?
In 2005, the authority was established under Law No. 17-2005. The whole credit goes to the then Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and the Emir of Dubai, Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum. It is headquartered in Al Garhoud, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
The main vision behind the establishment of such authority was to provide a sustainable, integrated world-class transportation system for the residents of Dubai. Under this plan, they went for five departments which will work in the future with their own recognized heads and CEOs. Five departments are categorized as Public Transport Agency, Traffic and
Roads Agency, Rail Agency, Licensing Agency, and Dubai Taxi.
They also set out the model of Dubai Metro which became the world’s largest fully automated driverless metro system covering the route of 75 kilometers. This work became the record in Guinness World Records.
What makes them popular?
It is popular because it is the well-organized authority in the country that turns out to be the sole public transportation including Dubai Tram, Abras, Dubai Metro, Dubai Water Bus, Water Taxi, Dubai Bus, Dubai Ferry and Dubai Taxi.
Counting on its operations then they have records of carrying 7 million riders per month by the bus services on total 179,000 trips by having 1,442 buses on 107 routes whereas metro also holds a record of carrying 164.3 million riders in 2014. Recently by introducing the latest technology, they have launched an automatic bus passenger counting system known as Rasid in 2015.
They have also launched out their mobile app with all their services on the screen that includes Smart Drive, Smart Parking, Smart taxi, RTA Dubai, Wojhati, Dubai Drive, Nol Card, Smart Salik, Public Transport and RTA corporate service app.
What’s new?
The Abu Dhabi Department of Transport and the Integrated Transport Centre launched Toll Gate System for activation on 15th October 2019. With the launch of this system, DoT and ITC are aiming to reduce traffic congestion by encouraging the general public to utilize Abu Dhabi’s public transport network thus reducing private vehicles.