Dubai starts to enforce fines for bus lane violations

Dubai's transport authority has announced that the enforcement of fines for bus lane violators has begun. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said it would penalise drivers who break the rules on Al Ghubaiba and Al Mamzar roads, following the expiry of a one-month trial run. It said in a statement that a fine of AED600 will be slapped on violators, adding that during the trial period 8,439 awareness offences had been reported. Adel Shakri, director of Transportation Systems, RTA Public Transport Agency, said: “We were keen to alert private motorists using the dedicated bus lanes on Al Mamzar and Al Ghubaiba roads before issuing them with fines. "An AED600 fine will be issued to offenders through surveillance cameras or manually by police patrols. Should the driver incur two offences for the same occurrence, only one fine would be accounted for." The dedicated lanes can only be used by public buses, taxis, Dubai Police vehicles, Civil Defence vehicle, and ambulances. “The ultimate objective of implementing the dedicated bus and taxi lane system is to raise the share of public transit modes in the mobility of people in Dubai, reduce traffic congestions and improve the on-time arrival of public buses and taxis," Shakri said.