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All sectors and agencies of the RTA have obtained the assets management certification, PAS 55, presented by the British SGS Group, and the RTA has thus become the first government department or authority in the Middle East to obtain this international certificate.

The Public Transport Agency was the first RTA agency to obtain this international asset management certification as it was selected for the application of the global standards of assets management, thanks to the high quality and cutting-edge technologies featuring the RTA’s buses which compare well with the best buses worldwide, and processes that warrant excellent fleet management at world-class standards.

Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA handed out the respective certificates to the CEOs of the RTA and honoured the work team of the RTA’s assets management in recognition of its efforts in promulgating the policies and strategies of assets management, diffusing the culture of assets management across the RTA, designing and implementing specific performance indicators to measure assets performance, and developing an e-assets management system contributing to shooting up the number of assets registered in the system from 55,000 to 110,000 assets, which reflects a 100 per cent rise.

Al Tayer was delighted with the RTA obtaining this international certification, which underscores the continuous efforts made by the RTA since 2008 in implementing the assets management system in the RTA. These efforts culminated in adding the sustainability of assets as part of the RTA’s strategic goals mapped out in its 2009 to 2013 plan.

“The RTA has spent more than 80 per cent of its budget over the last years in owning and developing assets and properties relating to roads, bridges, tunnels, the Metro, buses, taxis, marine transit means, and buildings, among others. In view of the importance of these assets, the Assets Management Department has been established with the aim of ensuring the sustainability of these assets and developing plans to conserve them over the next years, particularly under the prevailing economic conditions, which make it imperative on everyone to think in creative means of enhancing the efficiency and ensuring the optimal utilisation of all resources,” said Al Tayer.

“The RTA has carried out elaborate research and studies to capitalise on the best global practices applicable in Australia, the Far East, the USA and Britain, among others, to become familiar with their expertise in utilising and sustaining their assets for several years to come. The British model, PAS 55, developed by the British Standards Institution in collaboration with the Institute of Assets Management, ranks among the best standards of the industry worldwide. The RTA adopted the British system as a reference model for its Assets Management Department and set up a working group of specialists from all relevant RTA departments, where a customised system of the RTA was developed and aligned with that international model,” continued Al Tayer.

Abdulla Al Madani, CEO of the Corporate Technical Support Services Sector, said, “The RTA embarked on the application of the PAS 55 system in early 2011 in a process verified by a team of British auditors from SGS Group in which they scrutinised all principles of the system. The auditors were extremely impressed with the maturity and immaculate compliance with the principles of the global system despite the short time span for establishing the Assets Management Department.

Udai Al Deesi, Director of Assets Management, said, “Attaining this international endorsement is not the ultimate goal underlining the implementation of the system, rather, it is just the beginning and a launching pad towards achieving excellence in assets management.

“Among the prerequisites of obtaining certification of the PAS 55 system, the RTA must have a corporate policy and strategy that takes into consideration all aspects relating to the Assets Management Department. It was also perceived that a designated assets management department has to be instituted in order to run a system for corporate governance and processes, develop a standardised assets data management and classification system, undertake integrated and interrelated plans spanning all phases of the life cycle of assets, implement the safety and risk management system, and develop indicators to measure and monitor the performance improvement,” concluded Al Deesi.