Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has completed 80 projects as part of its digitisation, smart and 4th industrial revolution projects. 

 

Of these nine were completed last year highlighted by the 3D printing technology of metro parts,  automated fare of marine transport services, Phase III of nol Plus loyalty points programme, Enterprise Command and Control Centre, an interactive device for marine transport services, virtual driving, building capacities in data science, robot, and the smart route, said a statement from RTA.

 

To build capacities in data management, the RTA trained a data science specialist, established the first laboratory dedicated to transport data science and artificial technology in the Mena region. 

Initially, it developed 16 user cases and trained 16 employees. Two employees obtained a Masters’ degree in data science, it stated. 

 

According to RTA, under Phase II of the programme, 136 employees will be trained, some will pursue a Masters’ degree, and 86 user cases will be developed.

 

Among the projects completed in 2019 is the automated fare collection system (digital nol) of marine transport systems. The system is installed in 20 marine transport stations and completed more than a million transactions. 

 

The RTA installed 100 solar-powered nol card top-up machines which had performed more than three million transactions.

 

In the field of sustainable and smart transport, the RTA established a link with 114 limo companies, seven e-hail companies, and two shared transport companies (hourly rental) using the Al Merqab system, which streamlines and monitors the performance of limo and e-hail companies. 

The system is installed in 6,000 limos operated by 114 firms and tracked 19 million journeys of e-hail companies (Uber and Careem). 

 

The RTA linked 10,375 taxis with a central monitoring and managing system of surveillance cameras. It also installed smart cameras and dashboards for monitoring the behaviour of taxi drivers, it stated.

 

"The RTA was among the first public entities to deliver all services through user-friendly and innovative smart platforms. It kept increasing and improving the quality of its smart services on offer. Thanks to those efforts, RTA now offers services via four digital channels and a website," remarked Mattar Al Tayer, the director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors.

 

The subsequent projects and smart transformation of Dubai into a city that delivers services via advanced smart applications has proved effective, not only in Dubai but across the UAE. Thanks to that drive, it was possible for government departments to ensure business continuity and deliver high-quality services during the lockdown forced by the Covid-19 pandemic, he stated.

 

Al Tayer said RTA's smart services proved highly effective during Covid-19 lockdown. 

 

The number of digital transactions rose sharply by 40 percent compared to the same period last year. Equally, transactions carried out through Mahboub Chatbot doubled to 100 percent. 

 

According to him, the RTA’s improvements in infrastructure and smart vehicles included the smart route system for testing drivers, which completed 800 transactions. 

 

The Smart Route uses artificial technologies, Internet of Things, face-recognition technology, three-dimensional panoramic photography, GPS and others. More than 2000 people were tested through the virtual driving system reached, and the success rate achieved was 79 percent.

 

About 3,000 transactions were processed through the trial parking booking system. nol Plus loyalty points systems processed about 86,000 transactions and the system attracted 6,635 subscribers till the end of last year.

 

In the field of Artificial Intelligence, Mahboub Chatbot completed about 245,000 transactions. The system reduced the number of calls to the Call Centre by 40 percent and provided 130 services.-TradeArabia News Service