Dubai: Taxi passengers may soon be able to book movie tickets, check in for a flight or check out the latest offers and deals on the go if Dubai Taxi Corporation’s smart taxi pilot project is successful.
Five of the high tech taxis are undergoing road trials. If successful, the system will go live across Dubai Taxis from 2013.
The smart taxis are equipped with interactive ‘infotainment’ LCDs that provide customers with access to the internet, important government services and smart advertisements.
“One of the key features of the smart taxi is ‘smart advertising’. The system will change the advertisement depending on the locations. For example, if the taxi is passing by Wild Wadi, it will advertise the promotions that are going on at that time.
“Similarly, it will have advertisements about other promotions and deals,” said Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation.
He added that if the trial is successful more taxis will be launched next year.
“We are conducting the trial now with different technology available as well as the sources of power that could be used. We will also look at the feedback that we get from customers through the application that will be available on the LCD,” he said.
The infotainment touch-enabled LCD will also have applications that allow customers to pay utility bills, book cinema tickets, access tourism information, and have tickers running at the bottom of the screen with breaking news.
The new taxis will also have smart digital meters that will calculate fares based on accurate GPS fed distance measurements, while also having new LED taxi lights on top, which will also run useful information for the public.
The ‘smart taxi’ was launched on Sunday during Gitex Technology Week 2012, which was inaugurated by Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council.
The DTC, which is a subsidiary of the Roads and Transport Authority, also announced on Sunday that the 20 ‘VIPTaxis’, it launched in August, will also be available now on call 24/7 on 042080808 with a starting fare of Dh50.
