The System is to be implemented in Dubai Metro, marine transit modes
Roads and Transport Authority - Mohammad Al Munji: H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has recently inaugurated the automated "Takamul" system to compute activity-based costs of public buses. The System, which is the first of its kind in the transport sector across the Middle East, aims to hook-up different technical systems under one central system, calculate cost-revenue elements of bus activity, generate performance indicators related to cost & revenue elements, and issue financial reports electronically.
Al Tayer heeded to a briefing co-delivered by Dr. Yousef Mohammad Al Ali, Acting CEO of Public Transport Agency, and Adel Shakri, Director of Transport Systems at the Agency, spotlighting the System which links 7 different systems namely, Transport Electronic System, Government Resource Planning System, Fuel System, Scheduling System, Maximo Maintenance System, Unified Card System "NOL", and Vehicles Automatic Control System.
Elaborating on the new system, Dr. Al Ali, said, "The system calculates direct & indirect costs & revenues of nearly 46 elements, including the costs of bus depreciation, fuel consumption, insurance, internal & external maintenance, and drivers' salaries & uniforms in addition to the costs of washing and cleaning buses among others. The system also computes revenues accruing from bus rental as well as fares of public transport and inter-city service. Based on these inputs, the system provides a number of indicators, including the percentage of cost coverage, key performance indicators and financial reports."
"The system issues reports per bus depot (Al Awir, Al Khawaneej, Al Qusais, Al Ruwayyah and Jebel Ali), in addition to other reports per bus type (standard, articulated, double-decker), service type and route. The system also calculates 16 performance / financial indicators; including direct operation cost and direct revenues indicators," elaborated Dr. Al Ali.
He further added that the Agency had trained 55 employees on how to feed the system with the required information and issue reports.
"The system," he noted, "contributes to supporting decision taking, which, in turn can improve the operational efficiency of bus service, be it Metro feeder bus, public bus or inter-city bus service, besides consolidating efforts to realize the overall objectives.
RTA Chairman of the Board and Executive Director paid tribute to the system and directed that the 2nd phase to be generalized to various transport systems, including the Dubai Metro and marine transport means.
Continuous growth
"The number of public bus passengers has witnessed a phenomenal growth in recent years, soaring to 120.774 million passengers in 2012, compared to about 107.407 million passengers in 2011," said Al Tayer. "The number of daily bus riders topped 331,000 passengers in 2012, compared to about 298,000 passengers in 2011. This growth is ascribed to several factors, including the improved buses safety, high punctuality rate exceeding 80%, and the introduction of modern technology to serve mass transit users. In this context, the RTA has introduced the Journey Planner "Wujhati", which is accessible via RTA's website (www.rta.ae), or touch screens fitted to a number of main stations such that passengers can plan their journeys on the Dubai metro, buses, water taxi, or the water bus," he continued.
"The program keeps users informed of all schedules and timetables of mass transit means, besides outlining the travelling routes and walkways. 2,050 electronic devices have been installed in 683 buses to display routes, run educational materials, and keep riders informed of the next stop, likewise the metro service. The RTA has also introduced real time display screens depicting bus timings and installed them in different areas, including metro stations and some bus stops. It has also launched "Awselni" service to commute employees of the same organization to and from workplaces, and "Sharekni," service, enabling individuals to car-pool a single vehicle to and from their workplaces after registering in the service's portal. It remains to be mentioned that the RTA has upgraded its a website to measure up to the needs of users and achieve high customer satisfaction rating," said Al Tayer in a concluding remark.
© Press Release 2013
