Department of Transport and TransAd Intensify their Countering of Illegal Commuting

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1 Press Release For immediate release Department of Transport and TransAd Intensify their Countering of Illegal Commuting Awareness campaigns to highlight potential challenges on safety, security and service quality Financial and legal penalties to be incurred on any authorised person caught commuting people More than 2000 illegal commuting cases stopped since beginning of the year New online system to register and renew buses and drivers Integrated legislations to regulate all-purposes of mini and medium buses Plans to expand public transport services with expansion of routes and number of buses Abu Dhabi on Sunday, June 16, As part of its commitment to boosting the level of safety and security whilst providing quality bus transportation services to the public, the Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi in cooperation with The Centre for Regulation of Transport by Hire Cars in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (TransAD) announced today that they are gearing up to roll out several initiatives aimed to optimise mini and medium bus services including public buses and private ones used for tourism, labour and employee transportation whilst combating any illegally-provided transportation services. A new online system to renew bus and driver licenses will be unveiled in the last quarter of this year. Besides, the DoT is preparing to launch integrated legislations to regulate mini and medium bus services, which will compliment rules issued by the DoT in this regard with legal actions against any entity/person who breaches those regulations.

2 Developed in close coordination with TransAD, the new regulations cover various aspects such as responsibilities of public and private bus services and operation requirements, responsibilities of drivers and their licensing conditions, bus standardisation and safety and security criteria, as well as customer and quality service benchmarks. Eng. Hashim Al Hashimi, Director of Public Transport Division at the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi, said: The new regulations aim to provide highest standards of safety, security and quality bus services to the public whilst ascertaining that operators and drivers fully abide by the DoT s set rules for the service, thereby putting an end to any illegally-operated bus services as breaching the laws for which financial penalties and legal procedures are imposed. Commuting people via unauthorised or illegally-licensed vehicles pose various challenges for the public and other road users such as low standards of safety, security and quality, unorganised pick up and drop off commuters while in some cases they are transported along with goods, obstructing traffic in the pickup areas and sometimes buses stop in nonallowed locations and areas, as well as competing the already legally-permitted services, he added. Stressing that the DoT is endeavouring to facilitate licensing process as the Department granted and renewed more that 5000 licenses for mini-buses so far as per the specifications and standardisations stipulated by UAE Cabinet Decision number (6) for the year 2011, Al Hashimi said: The DoT has undertaken several initiatives to facilitate and expedite the process of allowing companies and individuals to get new bus service licenses or renewing the existing ones, such as the online system offering those companies the advantage of adding transport service to their profile.

3 Mr. Mohamed Al Hosani, Director of Franchise and Licensing at TransAD said: The new regulations are in line with TransAD s aspirations of pioneering in taxi services as per best international practices whilst constantly endeavouring to ensure highest level of services that are on par with Abu Dhabi s objectives. TransAD has stopped 1657 illegal commuting cases in Abu Dhabi, 378 in Al Ain as well as 324 cases handed over by Abu Dhabi Police for further investigation since the beginning of this year. TransAD is working closely with the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, the Public Prosecution, the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs, Abu Dhabi Police as well as the DoT under the umbrella of illegal commuting combatting committee to raise awareness amongst the public on the risks of this wrongdoing on safety, security and quality of service. Any one providing such services in their own vehicles with no valid license from the concerned entities will be subject when caught to fines between AED ,000 as well as imprisonment for no more than 30 days or one of these penalties, he added. Al Hosani stated that TransAD is working to put an end to this phenomena by increasing the number of inspectors and embarking on more awareness campaign. I would like to call upon the public to inform of any illegal commuting case by unlicensed vehicles or drivers owing to its potential risks, especially on safety and security. The DoT launched some regulations to legislate bus transportation, including a proposal to issue a federal legislation via Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology to raise bus safety levels by decreasing the number of seats from 14 to 9, retrofitting them all with safety belts and speed limiter of maximum 100 km/h, for which a Cabinet decree number 6 for the year 2011 was issued.

4 The DoT also unveiled school bus regulations recently. The application of these regulations is being monitored and followed by a joint committee incepted by the DoT, Abu Dhabi Police and Abu Dhabi Education Council. -End-

5 Background and Media Notes: The Department of Transport (DoT) was established pursuant to Law No. 4 of year 2006, amended by Law No. 5 of year 2008 to cover the entire value chain and ensure fully coordinated planning in all aspects of transport policy and development in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in cooperation with all relevant local, regional and international stakeholders and partners. For more information or inquiries, please contact: Mahmoud Elasheri Public Relations & Communications Consultant Department of Transport T: mahmoud.elasheri@dot.abudhabi.ae Zainab Al Zubaidi PR & Communications Officer Department of Transport T: zainab.alzubaidi@dot.abudhabi.ae