Abu Dhabi: “Abu Dhabi Mobility” completes its preparations as the new academic year approaches, as part of its efforts to provide safe transport for school students on their daily journeys to and from school and to ensure smooth traffic flow around schools for all modes of transport, including pedestrians, school buses, public transport, and private vehicles. Abu Dhabi Mobility focusses on two main pillars: student awareness and infrastructure improvement.

The plan is carried out in collaboration with Abu Dhabi City Municipality, Al Ain City Municipality, Al Dhafra Region Municipality, the Department of Education and Knowledge, and the Abu Dhabi Police General Headquarters. These measures are part of Abu Dhabi Mobility's role in improving road safety efforts to establish a secure transport system and to fulfil the wise leadership’s vision of enhancing quality of life and making Abu Dhabi a safer community.

Educating students on traffic safety guidelines

As for student awareness, Abu Dhabi Mobility completed several awareness campaigns during the second quarter of 2024, covering many schools across the emirate. These campaigns focused on educating students about traffic safety rules when using school buses and moving around the school premises. The campaigns reached over 800 students. Awareness campaigns are to resume with the start of the 2024-2025 academic year, aiming to cover a wider range of schools. The campaigns are tailored to the students' age groups, using educational techniques as an engaging learning activity and creating an interactive educational platform designed to capture students’ attention in a scientifically engaging manner.

Studies to develop school infrastructure in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi

In terms of infrastructure, Abu Dhabi Mobility studied and prepared designs for over 90 schools in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This process involved challenges related to transport and road safety were identified through communication with school administrations, conducting field visits and surveys, and developing appropriate solutions tailored to each school's situation. The solutions include increasing the number of designated parking spaces for buses and private vehicles, as well as improving traffic flow around schools to enhance road safety. The preliminary studies and designs have been completed, and work on the detailed designs is currently underway, with plans to commence implementation in 2025.

Measures to improve safety in school transport

To enhance safety in the school transport sector ahead of the new academic year, Abu Dhabi Mobility implemented measures and arrangements. Including regular inspections to ensure school buses in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi are ready for operation and conducting training workshops to educate operators, drivers, supervisors, and traffic coordinators on safety procedures. Field inspection teams will be assigned to high-traffic schools at the start of the academic year.

Abu Dhabi Mobility updated the technical specifications for school buses, adding new safety and security features, such as an additional stop sign for new buses with a capacity of over 40 passengers.

Ongoing monitoring and development of safety practices

In its regulatory and supervisory role over the school transport sector in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Mobility continues to focus on the Salama application. Training workshops are held for all school traffic coordinators, operators, and supervisors in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and the Al Dhafra Region to use the Salama system. Additionally, training sessions are conducted for drivers and supervisors to raise awareness of their responsibilities in maintaining safety and security procedures. The Salama application is part of an integrated smart system to manage school transport.

Recent statistics show that the Salama system includes 206 operators, managing 8,568 buses and 8,752 drivers, supported by 10,134 supervisors. The total number of 672 schools includes 204 public schools, 215 private schools, 213 nurseries, 38 charter schools, and 2 centres for people of determination. The number of students using the school transport through Salama system reached 237,111, while the Salama app has been downloaded by parents over 30,000 times.