Smartcard plan for pupils on STS buses in Sept

Dubai’s largest school bus operator will install a smartcard system for its 40,000 pupils to log on and off each journey to and from school to improve safety.

The new system, which will be in place for the start of the new school year in September, will be accompanied by GPS tracking software to be installed on the School Transport Services’ (STS) 800 buses, the National reports on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a school in Qatar has announced it will adopt a similar system to log all pupils on board buses after a four year-old girl died two months ago after being locked in a school mini van.

STS is investing AED1.7m in the safety measures, which will also provide schools with information in case of traffic delays or accidents.

ML Augustine, managing director of STS told the paper: “We will immediately know if a child has not got out of the bus, maybe because he fell asleep. We can also monitor speed and harsh braking.”

Augustine told the paper the cost of installing the new systems will not be passed on to parents.