Abu Dhabi details two violations that can bar a student from using school transportation

A school may prevent any student from using the school transport service if their parent refuses to sign the parent pledge form, according to the Department of Municipalities and Transport’s Integrated Transport Centre (AD Mobility), the authority responsible for regulating transportation in Abu Dhabi including school buses.

Students may also be prevented from using the school transport for one semester after informing their parents in two cases: violating any safety regulations or endangering themselves, their lives, or the lives of others during the trip; or misbehaving, causing a nuisance or engaging in any inappropriate or hostile behaviour toward other students, bus supervisor or driver.

Schools have 13 responsibilities regarding school buses: providing a sufficient number of school buses, either directly or through operators, for all students who wish to use them and ensuring that there are enough seats for all students.

They are also responsible for appointing a person in charge of school transportation and providing information related to his name and contact numbers to operators and parents, appointing a supervisor for each bus transporting students under 11 and keeping the names of transported students and the contact numbers of their parents in emergencies and providing them to operators.

In addition, schools are responsible for educating students on how to behave when waiting for the bus, getting on and off and during the trip. They should assign a qualified person to receive students in the event that they are returned to school for failure to deliver them to their families, ensure that they are not left alone in the meanwhile and contact the police in emergencies, noting that no maintenance work on school buses should be carried out on school campus.

Schools must not collect extra transportation fees over those approved by Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) and should obtain a pledge from parents to abide by their responsibilities according to the form approved by ADEK. In addition, they should maintain a risk and bus safety plan in accordance with the requirements of Abu Dhabi Occupational Safety and Health Centre for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and develop an action plan that ensures students travel to and from school safely and in the shortest possible time.

Furthermore, they should hold workshops in co-ordination with the competent authorities to implement the transportation plan, ensure there are no defects and refrain from contracting with any operator not authorized by the Department of Municipalities and Transport.

Upon a request submitted by it, a school may be exempted from the requirement to provide school transportation services to an insufficient number of students if it is proven that the operation is not economically viable, provided that a study supported by documents is provided to support the request.

AD Mobility emphasized that parents must sign a pledge to receive their children under 11 at the specified times, pay the costs of repairing any damage caused to the bus by their children and inform the school administration of any violation related to the cleanliness of the school bus or the misconduct of the driver, supervisor, or students.

Meanwhile, children must abide by the following: to be in front of their homes or at the assembly points at the specified time or before, not to violate safety regulations or endangering their lives or the lives of others during the school trip and not to leave the bus before arriving at the school or the specified arrival point.

They must also sit in their seats throughout the trip and fasten their seat belts tightly, avoid misbehaving, causing disturbances or participating in any problems or hostile behaviour.