Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has generalized the Unified Fare Collection System (NOL cards) in all Inter-City bus service and suspended the old traditional payment system via paper tickets.

Adel Mohammad Shakeri, director of Transportation Systems, at RTA Public Transport Agency, said: “After the success of the Automated Fare Collection System in city-buses within Dubai emirate, the Agency has generalized this method of payment in all Inter-City bus trips from and to and the emirate throughout the bus stations dotting Dubai emirate and other cities in the UAE.”

“Among the underlying objectives sought by the RTA through issuing NOL cards was to dispense with to rid the public of the paper tickets in paying public transport fares; which translates into the global concepts as conserving the environment through reducing wood consumption, the sole source of paper manufacturing.

“The outbound public bus trips heading outside the emirate start from 8 main stations, namely: Ghubaiba, Ittihad, Satwa, Karama, Sabkha, Deira City Centre, Abu Hail, and Ibn Battuta, which serve all routes and several other destinations such as Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, and Fujairah. The Automated Fare Collection System currently in place is applicable in all routes with the exception of Abu Dhabi to Dubai route, where the paper ticket option is still in use, but will be suspended likewise shortly,” he added.

“The Inter-City public buses make 900 daily trips through 12 routes connecting Dubai with other emirates, lifting more than 35,000 passengers, whereas the seven routes connecting Dubai emirate with Sharjah carry more than 17,000 passengers a day,” he noted. – TradeArabia News Service