Over 50 more school buses to transport Al Ain pupils

al ain — Fifty-three new school buses have been added in Al Ain to transport pupils during the forthcoming academic year.

Emirates Transport (ET) said the move is intended to replace old vehicles and cover the requirements of Al Ain’s eight new schools.

The school transportation authorities said they have also recruited 100 new bus supervisors and 70 drivers to help ferry the children to and from schools. The new buses increases the size of ET’s school bus fleet in Al Ain to 706 buses in total. The new drivers will undergo training programmes before the beginning of the next school year.

Of the new buses, 43 will cater to public schools and replace old buses; 10 new buses will transport children in private schools.

ET buses use smart safety systems for children’s protection, fitted with a device that counts the number of children getting on and off. The vehicles also have a motion sensor that detects movement inside a parked bus, and is connected to a system that triggers an alarm if someone remains on board.

A check button at the back of the bus forces the driver to walk down the aisle and verify that each seat had been vacated before he can press it. The buses also have speakers to communicate to a child left inside the bus.

Authorities said that these devices, along with the cameras, are connected to a mobile digital video recorder system, which can send alerts from the vehicle, warning about harsh acceleration and braking, speeding and driving while doors are open.

ET, in coordination with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec), have already determined that the routes of the school buses which should not exceed 50 minutes from the time a student boards the bus to their arrival time at school.

ismail@khaleejtimes.com