• 1,091,580 transactions were completed
  • 33% of the transactions were completed online
  • Around 18,4 million public bus trips
  • 19,8 million passengers used taxis and 11 million trips were conducted
  • 6% of taxis are hybrid vehicles
  • Uber and Careem daily trips have increased to 5130 trips

Abu Dhabi – The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport in Abu Dhabi announced that 1,091,580 transactions were completed during the first quarter of 2020. The transactions included different services that are offered to individuals and public transport users in aim of enhancing the safety and security of the transport network in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. During the first quarter, the public demand increased for public buses, taxis and smart transport sectors.

In aim of maintaining the safety of the society, ITC strived to follow all the precautionary measures that contributed to supporting the country’s efforts in maintaining the public’s health and controlling the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). ITC in cooperation with its stakeholders conducted a sterilising campaign targeted its public transport buses, school buses, taxis, ferries and related facilities. The sterilising that is still being conducted regularly includes 632 public buses; 410 of which are operated in Abu Dhabi City and its suburbs, 152 in Al Ain City and its suburbs and 70 in Al Dhafra Region. That is along with sterilising 6390 taxis, school buses, all ferries and Customer Happiness Centres in addition to other facilities and public areas in the transport sector.

Furthermore, ITC implemented a disinfection gate at the entrance of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain Main Bus Stations. The smart disinfection gate detects entering passengers and spray eco-friendly sterilising products automatically to ensure the public’s safety

Sterilising 7625 school buses

Under the supervision of the Student’s Safety System team at ITC, all the precautionary measures were undertaken to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) and protect 405,000 students, 4900 supervisors and 7625 school bus drivers. The 7652 school buses were sterilised on a daily basis according to ITC’s instructions.

To ensure the safety of the students, the Student’s Safety team have been conducting regular inspection campaigns starting from mid of March targeting all school transport operators to monitor the sterilising process and ensure that they are implemented according to the ITC’s instructions.

New initiatives to serve the public

In appreciation of the great effort dedicated by healthcare providers to control the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19), a bus on-demand service was launched under the name “Abu Dhabi Healthcare Link”. The service is offered for free to employees in the medical sector to transport them between their home and place of work. 

In order to support the public during the current health circumstances, ITC launched the Taxi Delivery Service for Sales Outlets Initiative in cooperation with Department of Economic Development. As per the initiative, ITC offers taxis to sales outlets in order to be used as home delivery services to maintain the public’s safety in the time that everyone is requested to stay home and avoid the risk of coronavirus (COVID-19). During the first three days after launching the initiative, 477 orders were delivered using 230 taxis.

Online Services

During the first quarter, 896,204 online transactions were completed out of a total of 1,091,580 transactions, which is 82.33% of the total number.

An increased demand for public buses

Public buses trips conducted around 18,4 million trips. The bus fleet consists of 632 buses; 410 buses in Abu Dhabi and its suburbs, 152 buses in Al Ain City and 70 buses in Al Dhafra Region.

In order to enhance the public bus network in the Abu Dhabi Emirate, ITC added 148 new Mercedes (Sprinter and Citaro) and Volvo buses and started operating 86 of them. Whereas 62 buses are undergoing an inspection in order to ensure that they meet the safety standards and the technical requirements.

Taxi transport

Taxis were used by 19,8 million passengers and 11 million trips were conducted by 6390 vehicles from eight operating companies. In part of ITC’s endeavour to limit greenhouse emissions, hybrid taxi vehicles in the Emirate has reached 5339, which is 83.6% out of the total number of taxis.

Smart Transport

New 19 Emirati captains joined the taxi team to work for Uber and Careem. They conducted 1663 trips during the first quarter of 2020. Thus, the total number of Emirati captains reached 105 captains who conducted 12,086 trips.

Uber and Careem registered 955 vehicles working as taxis and 461,687 trips were conducted, which is an average of 5130 trips a day.

Careem expanded its services to include Al Falah, Al Shamkhah, Bani Yas, Al Shawamekh and Al Shahama. Additionally, an online chat service between the driver and the passenger has been launched. The application registered an increase of 27% of usage.

Traffic Management Centre

The Traffic System Management (TMC) announced that Road Service Patrols received 5747 reports. Additionally, TMC offered 11 patrols to support the National Disinfection Programme.

Public parking sector in Abu Dhabi Emirate

In aim of eliminating random parking, ITC implemented 5198 parking spaces in Al Ain among four sectors: sector 8B (Al Hosn), sector 13 (Al Murabaa), sector 14 (Al Kuwaitat) and sector 15 (Al Neyadat). Additionally, an area of Sas Al Nakhl was regularised in coordination with Abu Dhabi Municipality in regards to parking in prohibited areas. Whereas the first phase of assessing the parking spaces and rearranging them according to the public demand and the need of the economic sector in Abu Dhabi Island was completed.

An increased demand for e-scooter

Operated by six companies, 4165 e-scooters were used by 286,705 users. ITC started issuing the rental permit activity as part of its efforts to vary the transport modes available in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Infrastructure development and improving ferry services

The number of passengers who travelled using ferry services was 13,301 passengers. This is in addition to the 2938 vehicles that were transported.

-Ends- 

© Press Release 2020

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