August 23, 2025 | News
Al Bayan Joins Emirates Transport on a School Bus Tour To Review Routes and Safety Standards
Al Bayan accompanied Emirates Transport on a trial tour of school bus routes ahead of the start of the 2025–2026 academic year, which begins next Monday. The tour aimed to gain first-hand insight into the bus routes and ensure that the highest standards of safety and security are being applied.
Adnan Al Zarouni, Regional Director of School Transport Operations in the Northern Regions, confirmed that the company’s state of readiness this year is crowned by the organization of “School Transport Week”, a major training workshop encompassing all branches, drivers, and transport and safety supervisors.
Speaking to Al Bayan, Al Zarouni revealed key figures related to the public-school transport service provided by Emirates Transport. He noted that the number of female transport and safety supervisors assigned to this service has reached 6,952, including 1,850 Emirati supervisors. The public-school transport network will serve approximately 187,828 students across 446 schools, through a fleet of 4,817 school buses operating along 7,157 daily routes.
He emphasized that these figures reflect the extensive effort invested in ensuring safe and well-organized transport for students in public schools, in full compliance with the quality and safety standards upheld by Emirates Transport.
Timetable
Al Zarouni stated that the “Hafilaty” smart app, launched by Emirates Transport, has been downloaded 18,138 times by parents. Beyond enabling student registration and real-time tracking of school journeys, the app also notifies parents if a bus is delayed from its scheduled time enhancing transparency and giving families greater peace of mind.
He added that the designated waiting time for buses at each student’s residence ranges from 30 to 60 seconds, ensuring smooth traffic flow and timely arrivals. Al Zarouni stressed that the app encourages parents to strictly adhere to school-designated pick-up times and to accompany their children to the bus on time, helping maintain the regularity of daily trips and avoid any delays that may disrupt the school schedule.
Smart Route Planning
Al Zarouni explained that the company has implemented an intelligent route planning system using an advanced program based on precise data, such as student addresses, school timings, and traffic conditions. This system aims to shorten trip durations, reduce travel distances, and consequently lower the carbon footprint while improving operational efficiency. The system continuously updates routes through simulation-based analysis.
He noted that Emirates Transport conducts trial runs for all approved routes before the start of each academic year, achieving a 100% trial completion rate this year. These trial operations verify trip durations, pick-up and drop-off points, and safety standards, while also allowing for additional improvements to enhance efficiency.
Al Zarouni added that Emirates Transport will serve over 260,000 students across 610 schools, including public, private, and charter schools as well as institutes, as well as training centers. The fleet will exceed 9,800 buses and vehicles, including 547 buses equipped for students of determination, whose number exceeds 4,100. This year, 639 new buses have also been added to meet operational needs.
Fleet Maintenance and Modernization
Al Zarouni reported that 9,396 buses underwent preventive summer maintenance as part of a comprehensive maintenance plan, under which each bus receives four types of maintenance annually. In total, more than 60,000 maintenance operations are performed annually through 23 certified service centers. He confirmed that fleet modernization is ongoing, with hundreds of new buses added this year to enhance efficiency and service quality.
Driver and Attendant Training
The school transport fleet is operated by 8,636 drivers, supported by 9,547 supervisors. During the past months, Emirates Transport delivered approximately 100,000 training hours, benefiting over 30,000 drivers and supervisors. Each driver received 20 training programs averaging 6 hours, while each attendant attended 15 programs averaging 5 hours, a reflection of the company’s commitment to performance excellence and student safety.
Comprehensive Safety System
Al Zarouni emphasized that all Emirates Transport buses are equipped with an advanced safety system, which includes seven internal and external cameras, an emergency button, a child-check button, motion and smoke sensors, driver performance monitoring devices, a speed limiter, seat belts, fire extinguishers, first aid kits, and emergency hammers.
He also highlighted the launch of the Aegis electronic platform for reporting and investigating incidents and near-misses, in addition to the activation of the central operations control room that monitors all vehicles in real time and intervenes when necessary.
A total of 20,525 routes have undergone risk assessment processes, covering more than 200,000 individual student pick-up locations.
Awareness and Cooperation
Al Zarouni concluded by emphasizing the importance of parental cooperation, encouraging parents to ensure their children get enough rest, adhere to bus schedules, cooperate with transport staff, and maintain bus cleanliness. He expressed gratitude to partners and parents for their trust, wishing everyone a safe and successful academic year.
Adnan Al Zarouni:
The smart planning system aims to reduce travel times and shorten travel distances.
All buses are equipped with a comprehensive safety system that includes seven internal and external cameras.