The public transport agency and the marine agency of the Dubai roads and transport authority (RTA) will equip their public buses and the piers for their waterbuses with the ACS Arcos fare collection system to simplify travel on public transportation in Dubai. Arcos will enable the agencies to issue tickets used throughout the Dubai public transport network. The contactless system replaces the current paper-based ticketing system.

"The residents of Dubai will benefit from seamless travel and easy, convenient access to transportation," says Christoph Franzen, ACS managing director "ACS' contactless technology is improving transport services around the world in terms of cost, reliability, security, and speed of transaction"

Major transport authorities, such as the Austrian national railways, The city of Vienna, Norwegian state railways, and the Berlin transport operator BVG, have implemented ACS' contactless system. They've used the system to create complex public transport network fare collection systems that operate across multiple modes of transport and agencies.

The new contactless system will enable RTA Dubai authorities to share information such as passenger flows across the RTA agencies. The system is designed to handle multiple operators and can be expanded to cover larger areas if necessary.

More than 5,200 electronic validators will be installed in approximately 1,200 buses. Bus stations will be equipped with self-service ticket vending machines and waterbus stations with electronically controlled access gates. Handheld ticket inspection devices will help inspectors check electronic tickets.