Dubai to boost public bus ridership

The use of advanced technology and artificial intelligence (AI) has contributed to improving the public bus service and its operational efficiency in Dubai, the chief of the emirate’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has said.

Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA noted a new project called ‘City Brain’ is expected to increase the bus ridership by as much as 17 per cent.

During a meeting with Public Transport Agency team, a presentation was made featuring the City Brain system for developing the public transport network planning, which RTA intends to implement this year in cooperation with Alibaba.

The system, which is meant for managing urban traffic systems, uses AI and advanced algorithm to analyse a massive number of big data captured from nol cards, buses and taxis in operation as well as the Enterprise Command and Control Centre. Then it converts the data into information useful in sending instant notifications about the revised bus schedules and routes.

The system is expected to improve the bus ridership by 17 per cent, reduce the average waiting time by 10 per cent, and shorten the journey time and the average bus use by five per cent.

He reviewed the operational results of the ‘Remote Bus Performance Monitoring Centre’ at Al Quoz Bus Depot, run in collaboration with FAMCO. The centre tracks and monitors the performance and efficiency of about 373 Volvo buses in real-time using a telematics system fitted to the new buses to enhance the operational processes and support the maintenance procedures.

The system contains 47 types of notifications that cover the mechanical aspects of the bus, fuel consumption per kilometre and the condition of the onboard safety systems. The results of the initial operational phase revealed that the system had reduced fuel consumption by five per cent, bus faults during journeys by 10 per cent, and customer complaints from drivers by 15 per cent.