Dubai’s RTA enhances accessibility of facilities for people with disabilities

Credit: Roads and Transport Authority

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that it has completed 82% of retrofitting buildings and facilities to make them accessible to people with disabilities. This project includes the first and second phases to make them compatible with the Dubai Building Code – Accessibility for People of Determination.

Abdulrahman Al Janahi, Director of Building and Facilities, Corporate Administrative Support Services Sector at RTA, said: “During the first and second phases of the project, which had been completed recently, the Building and Facilities Department retrofitted several locations, including RTA Head Office, Customer Happiness Centres in Umm Ramool, Deira, and Al Barsha, as well as several bus stations at Al Quoz, Ibn Battuta, and Deira City Centre. Works also included retrofitting the multi-level parking terminals at Naif, Al Rigga, and Carlton in addition to the old and new Sabkha and Ghubaiba.”

Al Janahi also added that the project included tactile guiding paths, both internally and externally, for people with visually impairments, as well as wheelchair ramps, signage, toilets, automatic doors and audio enhancements. For example, a microphone has been installed at the reception desk to communicate with people with hearing impairments. In addition, counters have been allocated for people with mobility challenges, braille signage and special smartphones to assist those with hearing and visual impairments.

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RTA is currently preparing for Phase III of retrofitting its buildings and facilities, with the aim of achieving a 100% completion rate by 2023. This phase encompasses ticket kiosks at marine transport stations, Al Jaddaf marine transport station, as well as bus stations at the Mall of the Emirates, Al Karama, Al Qusais and Jebel Ali.

In recognition of its efforts to retrofit customer happiness centres to meet accessibility standards and requirements, RTA has also announced that it has obtained the Gold certificate in the “Accessible for All” category from the Dubai Municipality. Furthermore, RTA provides ‘Mobile Customer services’ for people with disabilities in their homes by providing access for employees and customer services through a bus equipped with a lift and escalator, in which customers are received and process their transactions.