By Shafaat Ahmed www.khaleejtimes.com
A red ticket could now be bought from any outlet and could be used for travelling on all modes of transport in Dubai, RTA announced.
The red tickets, with a minimum value of Dh2 and a maximum of Dh16, are mainly intended for tourists or temporary users.
The RTA feels the facility would help get more tourists to use public transport modes and help solve a lot of confusion over ticketing.
“We feel this facility will help a lot of tourists. Earlier, there was a lot of confusion about the red tickets and (we) used to get questions as to why a single ticket can’t be used for all modes. Now we have upgraded the nol system and hope tourists would be happy,” said Abdullah Al Madani, CEO of corporate technical support sector at the RTA.
The upgrade has also allowed the RTA to launch a daily pass worth Dh16, which could be used for unlimited travel on both buses and metro. The daily pass could be availed by all, including tourists, from the RTA’s ticket vending machines as well as all metro and bus stations.
Another much-awaited facility that would be available from March 15 is the concessionary passes for students, people with special needs and senior citizens. The application could be submitted at all RTA customer care centres as well as bus and metro stations.
The renewable special needs passes with six-month validity are free of cost and are available for people of all nationalities, only if the applicant falls in the category as stipulated by the law of the land.
The passes for senior citizens and students are priced at Dh70 each, which includes delivery charges and Dh20 ePurse. While the student passes are available to all locally based students, the senior citizen passes are available only for UAE nationals over the age of 60.
The passes, which have a maximum top-up limit of Dh500, would offer 50 per cent concessions to students and senior citizens.
