100 new vehicles join Dubai taxi fleet
Seventh franchise, first Chinese firm, to offer taxi services in Dubai
Dubai: A new franchise joins taxi operations in Dubai from Wednesday, adding 100 taxis to the city’s taxi fleet.
Oneroad Taxi, Dubai’s seventh taxi franchise and first Chinese firm to join taxi operations in the Emirate. unveiled its first batch of taxis on Tuesday at its Al Quoz depot.
The company is planning to add at least 2,000 taxis, including limousines, ladies taxis and special needs taxis, by 2020, catering to the expected increase in demand in the lead up to Expo 2020.
Speaking to the Gulf News following the launch, Kevin Luo, Oneroad Taxi’s general manager said that the new venture is result increasing cooperation between China and UAE.
“The cooperation between the UAE and China is improving and Dubai has big and growing market with lots of opportunities to invest. We would like add value to the taxi services here and represent the best of China and the UAE,” said Luo.
The first batch of Oneroad Taxi includes 100 units of Toyota Camry, however, the franchise plans to introduce Chinese auto brands in the Dubai taxis market with the launch of Hongqi H7 and H5 luxury vehicles for the limousine segment of its taxi operations.
According to Luo, Oneroad Taxi is in the process of developing its own taxi booking app which is likely to be operational in the next few weeks.
The new franchise is part of the Roads and Transport Authority’s (RTA) expansion plan, catering to the increasing demand for taxis services, while preparing for the anticipated demand during Expo 2020.
“The demand for taxis is increasing, and we are gradually increasing the fleet in the run up to Expo 2020, more taxis will be added next year,” said Mohammad Abubaker Al Hashemi, Director of Business Planning at the RTA’s Public Transport Agency that regulates taxi services in Dubai.
He added that around 2,500 taxis will be dedicated for the Expo and the RTA is studying various options and services for the mega event.
Al Hashemi said that the RTA offers a wide variety of taxis services, catering to different segment of the society, while continuously exploring new avenues to improve the comfort level of commuters.
With the addition of the new batch, 10,834 taxis are now operating in Dubai.