RAKTA held a coordination meeting with the Environment Protection and Development Authority to discuss the frameworks of joint cooperation and the latest developments of the marine transport project in Ras Al Khaimah. Where H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA reviewed the completion stages of the project.

This visit comes from the premise of involving all concerned parties, as the role of the Environment Protection and Development Authority revolves around ensuring all specifications, requirements and standards related to the marine environment.

The meeting was attended by a number of officials from both sides.

As part of RAKTA’s endeavor to ensure the safety of students using school buses, the security and safety team carried out a number of inspection campaigns on school buses in many schools in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah to determine the extent to which the operators comply with the applicable requirements in this activity and to ensure the application of precautionary measures during the transfer of students.

The inspection campaigns come within the framework of pre-established plans to monitor the mechanism of school buses in the emirate and the extent of their compliance with the legislation and laws regulating the work of these buses, in addition to providing a distinguished service to transport school students safely and encouraging parents to use school buses instead of private vehicles.

RAKTA also pays great attention to the school transport activity by providing intensive training programs, as the authority has provided the smart “Al Bosala” application to train and qualify drivers and supervisors, In addition to the permanent and continuous inspection throughout the academic year by the security and safety team and the inspectors of the Quality Control Department to ensure safe access for students during daily commuting trips.

It is worth noting that school buses are subject to many requirements that must be met, such as limiting the maximum speed of the bus to not exceeding (80 km) per hour, by installing speed control devices in accordance with the conditions and standard specifications approved by the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology, in addition to the availability of fire extinguishers and periodic maintenance. The bus must be no more than (15) years old from the date of manufacture, and the bus must include emergency exits, provided that clear indicators for emergency exits are installed, and that there are no obstacles in front of these exits that impede movement when used in emergency situations, and safety belts with two points of convergence are provided on all the passenger seats exposed from the front, such as the front seats and the middle seat of the last seats, with three points of convergence on the driver’s seat, in addition to removing any sharp edges around the internal and external bus, and subjecting all school transport buses to the GPS electronic tracking system, which allows the possibility of knowing the location and location of the school bus.

In order to enhance the frameworks of joint strategic cooperation between the two sides, a delegation from RAKTA headed by H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – the General Manager, visited Saqr Port, where he was received by Mr. Nishen Reddy – Chief Operating Officer and Mr. Justin Wardle – Director of Ras Al Khaimah Port.

During the visit, he was briefed on the projects implemented by Saqr Port, and a number of future projects that RAKTA will implement during the next phase, such as the internal public transport project, by providing service to port workers to facilitate their movement within the emirate.

In the spirit of strengthening the strategic partnership, a delegation from RAKTA visited the technical inspection station of the General Resources Authority (GRA) to view the requirements and standards for the vehicle inspection process and the mechanisms for unifying services in one platform, and to search for new and innovative joint cooperation frameworks.

The visit was attended by H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA, and H.E Maysoon Mohammed Al Dhahab – Acting General Manager of GRA, and a number of officials from both parties.

The delegation praised the accuracy of the work and the commitment of applying the requirements and standards within the best international practices for vehicle inspection, which reflects positively on public safety and ensures the provision of the best services to the customers.

H.E Maysoon Al Dahab indicated that this visit comes within the framework of cooperation and coordination between the two parties in a way that serves the public interest and achieves the highest levels of customer satisfaction. Also, she praised the cooperation of RAKTA with the efforts of GRA in providing distinguished services to customers.

In order to enhance the principle of partnership with the business sectors in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, RAKTA carried out a visit to Ras Al Khaimah Chamber, during which H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA met with H.E Mohammed Al Nuaimi – Chairman of RAK Chamber’s Board of Directors and in the presence of a number of officials from both parties.

Where the two parties discussed the strategic and vital projects implemented by RAKRA within its strategic plan 2020-2025, which include the public transport project in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, the marine transport project, and how the private sector will participate and contribute to the projects implementation with the aim of providing an integrated infrastructure for the transport system in the emirate.

They also discussed initiatives of common interest and ways of cooperation in all fields to achieve the quality of life and well-being of citizens, residents and visitors to achieve the Ras Al Khaimah’s vision 2030.

As part of RAKTA’s digital strategy, which includes a number of development paths to move to 100% smart and digital services by 2022, RAKTA has completed the stages of the “paperless RAKTA” project by 90%. Through this digital transformation, the authority aims to achieve environmental sustainability and enhance the green footprint in line with the vision of Ras Al Khaimah Government 2030, and to create a milestone for the authority in this regard at the level of the emirate. In addition to creating a paperless work environment, operations and customer services by 2022, as RAKTA will stop issuing or requesting any paper documents across all its services and operations.

In this context, H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA carried out an inspection tour to the Customer Happiness Center to see closely the progress of work in the “Paperless RAKTA” project, during which he met the Information Technology and Mobility Solutions Department and directed the need to exert more effort to complete the project on time. In addition to adapting modern global technologies and practices in this field to ensure the quality of outputs.

H.E also directed the need of observing 3 important pillars in the project, which include technologies to meet the technical needs, provide data to ensure that all transactions are conducted and completed without papers, and the need to update policies to comply with this qualitative shift in RAKTA’s digital operations.

RAKTA organized a series of safety and security awareness workshops for school bus supervisors in various schools in Ras Al Khaimah.

The workshops aim to educate supervisors and ensure their commitment to safety procedures in school buses in order to achieve safe and smooth transportation. In addition to regulating the school transport sector in line with international best practices to ensure the students safety.

H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA confirmed that these workshops come within the authority’s efforts to enhance the levels of security and safety in the field of school transport by applying the best international safety standards on all school buses in the emirate, and raising the level of awareness and knowledge of school bus supervisors by developing a comprehensive plan to train them through the smart application of the “Al Bosala”.

H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA conducted an inspection visit to the maintenance workshop, during which he was briefed on the progress of maintenance work for vehicles and buses. He also listened to the suggestions and comments of technicians to develop maintenance services in the workshops.

The visit was attended by Mr. Mohammed Hashem Esmaeel – Director of Quality Control and Operations Department, Mr. Saeed Ali Al Nuaimi – Business Development Manager, Mr. Mohammed Habib Allah – Assistant GM of RAK Arabia Workshop, and Mr. Abdul Razak Mohammed Ibrahim – Assistant GM of Al Hamra Group Operations.

H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi, General Manager of RAKTA, was briefed on the progress of smart cameras project in taxis, which was launched as a first experimental phase in the first quarter of 2021, and would contribute to the enhancement of smart transportation systems and the security system in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.

H.E was also briefed on the developments of the “Shaheen” system, which consists of installing an AI camera in front of taxi and bus drivers that reads their face features and activities while driving to monitor stress levels and signs of fatigue, through technical indicators linked to RAKTA’s Smart Control Center.

As RAKTA seeks to adapt artificial intelligence techniques to enhance the work system in transportation, in order to achieve its vision of ” Pioneering in regulating the transportation sector and ensuring the provision of safe, reliable and smart transportation services.

H.E also stressed the importance of these smart systems in raising the quality of transportation services provided to customers, which contributes to raising the quality of life for the residents of Ras Al Khaimah.

It is worth noting that the experimental phase will be completed in the fourth quarter of this year, and cameras will be installed in all taxis and public buses fleet by the beginning of next year.

Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority’s Youth Council organized a panel discussion under the title “The Future of Sustainable Transport” at the headquarters of the Ras Al Khaimah Youth Hub in cooperation with the Ras Al Khaimah Broadcasting Authority. The discussion was hosted by H.E Eng. Ahmed Mohammed Al Hammadi – General Manager of the Public Services Department in Ras Al Khaimah, and Dr. Ayman Rashid Al Khanbouli – Head of the Institutional Advancement Office at the American University of Ras Al Khaimah.

The discussion was moderated by Mohammed Ghanem Mustafa, and in the presence of H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of Ras Al Khaimah Transport Authority, a number of directors and officials from government agencies, in addition to a number of youth category.

This discussion is part of a series of initiatives, programs and events that will be implemented by the RAKTA’s Youth Council, which aims to enhance awareness and culture among youth category about the future of transport in all its sectors to create a new generation that is aware of future transport systems and solutions.

The panel discussion focused on one of the global challenges to achieving environmental sustainability and reducing carbon emissions from transportation and communications, in which the switch to electric, hybrid and hydrogen vehicles is one of the innovative modern solutions that major international companies are racing to provide in various cities.

H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA, stressed the authority’s keenness to support and qualify youth category, believing in the importance of their role in promoting the comprehensive development process that achieves the vision of the Ras Al Khaimah Government 2030. Moreover, He highlighted RAKTA’s pioneering experience in operating the first two electric taxis in the UAE, stressing that the authority places environmental sustainability among its most important strategic goals to shift towards the use of environmentally friendly vehicles.

In turn, Eng. Shamma Al Awadhi, Head of RAKTA’s Youth Council, expressed her thanks to all the participants, attendees and everyone who contributed to the success of this event, stressing that RAKTA’s Youth Council is fully prepared to create initiatives that support youth and enhance their participation.

At the end of the discussion, H.E Eng. Esmaeel Hasan Al Blooshi – General Manager of RAKTA, honored Eng. Ahmed Al Hammadi, Dr. Ayman Al Khanbouli, and Mohammed Ghanem Mustafa, for their participation in the discussion panel.