School bus services throughout the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates are regulated by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), a government department responsible for the delivery of integrated, sustainable and world-class transportation systems for Dubai’s residents.

Direx Solutions, in partnership with engineering consultancy Mott MacDonald, provided specialist technical advice in support of RTA’s new School Transport Strategy Master Plan. Priority objectives include raising students’ awareness of the services provided, attracting more students (as student ridership has been declining in recent years), and enhancing safety for students on the road. RTA’s objectives also include setting higher operations and maintenance performance standards for the sector, as part of its outsourcing and privatisation services contract.

Our deliverables included a detailed assessment of existing services in the Emirate, and a gap analysis of existing service offer versus best international equivalent, informed by international benchmarking against other transport providers to identify best practices in school bus operations, fleet and asset management, and service planning and delivery.