As part of its participation in Gitex Technology Week (18-22 October 2015) at the World Trade Center in Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has unveiled a bundle of new solutions and applications to support the use of NOL cards. These will enable public transport riders to pay fares of metro, tram, public buses and marine transit modes, as well as paying parking fees in Dubai.

“By offering these solutions and apps in Gitex 2015, RTA intends to familiarize the public with a number of solutions & apps, and also screen their views & comments about other apps & initiatives,” said Khaled Al Awadi, Director of Automatic Fare Collection Systems, Corporate Technical Support Services Sector of RTA.

“The solutions & apps announced by the RTA in Gitex 2015 comprise five categories: NOL Smart Services incorporated in the Public Transport App with NFC Features. The services provided by these features include the instant recharging of NOL card through tapping the NOL card with the smartphone. The top-up amount will be debited from a credit card or another NOL card. The top-up will be instantly made and the system will enable topping up Personalized NOL Card by up to AED5,000 but non-personalized cards can be topped up by up to AED1,000. These new features enable users inquire about the balance of the NOL card by just tapping the card with an Android phone. Other benefits include enabling users transfer balances between NOL cards, which is most useful to public bus riders.

“The other app revealed by RTA is NOL Pass; a permit for NOL card empowering smart phones to act as NOL cards through the NFC technology and Host Card Emulation technology. This app is designated to buying various types of NOL passes, where public transport riders can use it in future without changing sim-cards of their smartphones; which is currently applicable in the Smart NOL card. It is noteworthy that this app is still under research and improvement phase,” explained Al Awadi.

“RTA is also unveiling Wearable Smart NOL products in collaboration with a specialized company in this field. Visitors of Gitex will be screened to gauge their ‘like’ and uptake of these products should RTA opt to roll them out in the market in future. Results of surveys will have a decisive say in offering such projects in the near future.

“During Gitex 2015, RTA announced the offering of NOL card selling & recharging services using MBME Smart Kiosks, where about 900 machines of this sort spread all over the UAE. The smart kiosks will also be provided as part of RTA’s smart bus stops initiative. This app will be operational from the beginning of November this year, and about 100 bus stops will be offering this service by the start of 2016,” he noted.

“The fifth app the RTA is promoting during Gitex is NOL Express involving the issuance of Personalized NOL cards for ordinary and gold classes to the public, through the ID card only, within few minutes, instead of completing manual applications at the metro stations and waiting for 14 days to obtain the card. RTA had announced this app in collaboration with Emirates Identity Authority earlier in October this year,” he added.

The Director of Automatic Fare Collection Systems reiterated RTA’s persistent efforts to use the latest technologies in various fields with the aim of bringing happiness to public transport riders by offering them top-class services.