Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said it has started the trial run of its 'Bus on Demand' service.

The move is aimed at enhancing its Dubai Future Accelerators, and the Smart City schemes to develop innovative solutions for the First and Last Mile challenges faced by public transport users, it stated.

The service, which makes its debut at Al Warqaa and Al Barsha areas of Dubai, will continue for a trial period of three months, free.

It targets three categories: workers (23 per cent), occupational specialists (15 per cent), and retail and services business (62 per cent), said the RTA in its statement.

It was launched by Mattar Al Tayer, the director-general and chairman of the board of executive directors of RTA in the presence of Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of the Dubai Future Foundation.

Ahmed Bahrozyan, the chief executive of RTA’s Public Transport Agency, briefed Al Tayer and Belhoul about ‘Bus on Demand’ initiative, which will be offered through the smart app (MVMANT).

"The 18-seater buses will operate on flexible routes and schedules, and bus drivers can know the service demand through the app to reach the nearest point to their destinations," explained Bahrozyan.

"RTA had entered the geographical data of Al Warqaa 3 and 4 and Al Barsha 1 and 2 in MVMANT app, which is available on Google Play and Apple Stores on mobile phones. Through the app, customers living at Al Warqaa and Al Barsha will be able to identify their locations and track the bus arrival times to their locations," he stated.

According to him, the smart responsive system was aimed at addressing the requests of public transport riders based on the idea of linking some places with mini public buses operating nearby their locations.

"They can avail the service through the smart app, which enables them to figure out their routes from the start point to destination point, choose their preferred seats, and pay fares. The service will be an innovative solution to the First and Last Mile between the homes of clients and the nearest public transport station," he added.

Bahrozyan pointed out that during the trial operation, RTA will assess the efficiency of the service in terms of accessibility to riders, response period, and the time of journey to the destination.

"A questionnaire will be provided at the Metro stations in those two selected areas to probe their needs, views and thoughts about the service before being activated in order to ensure that it will be up to their expectations of a smooth and secure transport," he added.

Belhoul said Dubai had set itself on a path to embracing ambitious initiatives, and continuously aimed at presenting itself as a testbed for innovations that are the forefront of change.

"At the Dubai Future Foundation, we believe in the adoption of collaboration, by joining government and private sectors to solve current & future challenges. The solutions that the MVMANT’s Bus on Demand service brings to the table will help reinvent the transportation sector on the one hand, while bringing benefits to the economy as a whole," he added.-TradeArabia News Service