Dubai: More than 3,000 new cabs will be added to the Dubai Taxi fleet between 2016 and 2020, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said on Saturday.
Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA, endorsed the five-year plan which plans to increase the number of Dubai Taxi cabs operating in the emirate by 34 per cent.
“The plan provides for the addition of 3,268 new taxis, which will raise the number of taxis in operation from 9,497 vehicles in 2015 to 12,765 vehicles by 2020,” Al Tayer said.
“Increasing the number of taxis was decided in response to a comprehensive study about the future needs for taxis in Dubai in order to strike a balance between the needs of taxi riders and service providers,” he said, adding: “The step was also taken to meet the rising demand for the service where statistics showed that taxis in Dubai had made about 109 million trips, serving more than 217.751 million riders in Dubai.”
Al Tayer said the RTA is keen to strike a balance between the number of vehicles and the number of riders by assessing the number of taxis per 1,000 people. “RTA is committed to improve the quality of services offered by taxis through capitalising on smart systems and modern technologies to meet the needs of various customers. Such a policy fits well with the drive of the government to transform Dubai into a smart city caring for the happiness of residents and visitors.
“Last year, RTA launched Drivers Qualification Centre at Al Ruwaiya; the first specialised smart centre for training taxi drivers, taxi drivers of franchise companies, and chauffeurs of on-demand deluxe limos operating in Dubai under the supervision of the Public Transport Agency. The centre aims at improving the traffic safety level within the taxi service, and the quality of services offered to taxi riders in a bid to make them happier. RTA has recently launched the Taxi Service Excellence Award to honour the best taxi company and the top ten taxi drivers in Dubai. The underlying objective of this award is to improve the quality of services provided to taxi riders, and foster a competitive environment between franchise companies, prompting them to upgrade traffic safety and awareness, and enhance the satisfaction rating and happiness of taxi riders. It also intends to motivate taxi drivers of franchise companies to innovate and excel, improve the rating of job compliance, customer service, drivers’ efficiency and attitudes, and the efficiency of services provided by franchise operators,” Al Tayer said.
