The Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) has signed a contract with the Arabian Automobile Association (AAA) to operate a smart car recovery system. The system will be launched in March 2017.

The system is designed to offer roadside assistance in case of vehicle breakdown through a smart app, which will be rolled out with the project launch for use in all smartphones. It will boost traffic safety as well as the level of rapid deployment service, if needed, to alleviate traffic congestion.

An announcement to this effect was made during a signing of an agreement at RTA Head Office by Dr Yousef Mohammed Al Ali, CEO of DTC and Mohammed bin Sulayem, Chairman of the AAA.

“The smart car recovery system is operated via the smart app by sending the coordinates of the location of the faulty vehicle to the nearest available recovery vehicle to the location. The assistance is delivered through a variety of service options – vehicle towing, 10 litres of fuel, tyre repair, simple mechanical faults (battery drain), closed door opening, and towing to the technical workshop,” said Al Ali.

“The DTC’s initiative, which aims to turn the car recovery business into a digital platform, would be a positive step that contributes to easing the traffic movement in Dubai. The app would provide high-quality services to motorists in Dubai. The AAA took the initiative of offering its services in this field in order to turn this concept into a reality under the supervision of the DTC,” said Bin Sulayem.

“Through this technology, the motorist would not be obliged to wait for long for towing his or her vehicle, and would be able to track the movement of the recovery vehicle on its way for providing assistance,” he added.