Roads & Transport Authority - News Details

The Customers Council of Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has held a gathering with representatives of the people of determination in Dubai at Rashid Centre for The People of Determination. The session reviewed RTA’s services to the people of determination and how to improve them to add to the happiness of those target groups. 

Among the notable participants in the session were Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, RTA Board Member and Chairperson of Customers Council, and Ms Mariam Othman, Director-General of Rashid Centre for People of Determination. Attendees also included members of the council and representatives of various RTA agencies and sectors as well as parents of students from the people of determination and representatives of people of determination centres in Dubai. 

At the start of the gathering, Ms. Mariam Othman welcomed the Chairperson and Members of RTA’s Customers Council. She paid tribute to the role of RTA in delivering world-class services to all segments of the community including people of determination. 

Al Mulla thanked the Rashid Centre for People of Determination for hosting this gathering of RTA’s customers' council. He stressed the commitment of RTA’s senior leadership to continually improve the services to the people of determination to meet the needs of this social community segment, which is one of the key pillars of the state and the community. 

“RTA is offering a wide range of services customised to the needs of various categories of people of determination. It includes smart and e-services such as the accessibility of RTA’s website to POD, providing free mobility services, and designating special places onboard the metro, tram, public buses and marine transit means to make them accessible and safe for the use of people of determination. RTA has also designed and equipped its premises and facilities to be friendly to the people of determination and ensure their smooth clearance during emergencies. It also trained employees, especially front-end staff, on the etiquette of handling people of determination. RTA is also keen to recruit personnel from both genders of this category and post them in jobs that fit their abilities,” explained Al Mulla. 

“From inception, RTA started to make its services and facilities compatible with the needs of people of determination at the highest international standards. Such efforts underscore RTA’s keenness to contribute to the integration of POD in the community, and enhance their satisfaction and happiness with RTA’s services,” he noted. 

Al Mulla reviewed a host of initiatives and privileges that RTA offers to the people of determination such as 100% exemption from the registration and renewing fee of one vehicle, free delivery service, 50% exemption from driver licensing services fee, and permanent and temporary parking permits. Privileges also include allocating free parking slots across all parking areas in the emirate, providing permanent and temporary parking for tourists from this category, exempting 100% of Salik tolls for one vehicle, providing vehicles customised to the training of drivers from this category, deploying 27 taxis equipped to serve the need of people of determination, and offering 50% discount on taxi fares.

“Among the key community initiatives offered by RTA to the people of determination was the addition of the Happiness of People of Determination category to RTA’s Scientific Research Award and adding a special category for POD in the Dubai Award for Sustainable Transport. RTA also held workshops to publicise its services to the people of determination, distribute wheelchairs, and launch the people of determination youth journey in public transport in addition to exhibitions and events in this field. It also held agreements for sponsoring sportsmen and women from people of determination, held a short-story contest exclusively for people of determination, and established Dubai Audio Library for people of determination,” elaborated Al Mulla. 

To better integrate the people of determination into the community, RTA has recently called on 242 volunteers from the people of determination to undertake Kiswat Khair. The initiative capitalises on the innovative skills of people of determination in recycling uniforms of public and private entities for sending afterwards to less developed countries for distribution to the needy in those countries.

Several ideas and suggestions were made during the session focused on improving the services to the people of determination. Examples included:  enhancing the training of taxi and public bus drivers, public transport attendants as well as RTA’s front-end staff on the etiquette of handling all categories of people of determination and autists. 

Suggestions called for developing a training programme guided by a scientific methodology for serving the people of determination in collaboration with the centres and institutes of people of determination. The gathering also called for intensifying community awareness campaigns to showcase RTA’s achievements and services to the people of determination and autistic patients, familiarise with the services, initiatives and discounts offered by RTA to the people of determination through RTA’s social media channels, website and various media means to showcase the profile of RTA as a government body friendly to the people of determination.