Cash-free travel on more airport taxis

Dubai: Over the next two months, 1,000 more airport taxis will accept fares through Nol, credit and debit cards or through mobile phones as the Roads and Transport Authority upgrades Dubai’s taxi fleet.

Cash payments will continue to be accepted.

There will be an additional service charge of Dh2 per trip for credit/debit card payments and Dh1 per trip for Nol card payments.

The Automated Fare Collection system (Nol) is being used on the metro, buses, water buses, and for parking.

Initially, the system was activated on 20 airport taxis. Around 1,000 more taxis are scheduled to be upgraded in the next two months.

The upgrade is part of the Smart Taxi project, which will see Dubai’s cabs transform into an intelligent transport system, with digital sign boards and interactive LCD screens on rear seats.

In the next phase, Hala Taxis, which are operated only by pre-booking, will be upgraded and by mid-2015 the entire fleet of taxis, including those owned by five franchises, will begin accepting Nol and credit card payments.

“We started with airport taxis because we received a lot of requests and suggestions from tourists and visitors to equip taxis with a credit card payment system. This will definitely help tourists who don’t carry cash and it will also help those who prefer to use a single payment method like Nol for their transport needs,” Dr Yousuf Al Ali, CEO of RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said following the launch of the payment system on Tuesday.

“The kind of infrastructure we have got in place is really unique. The taxi metres are directly linked to all the banks and the payment system will be live. We have worked hard to get this in place because we didn’t want any issues of card fraud or any other payment related problems,” said Al Ali, explaining how the system works.

The new payment mode will accept all Nol cards, including Silver, Gold, as well as the personalised Blue cards. However, the red tickets accepted in buses and the metro will not be accepted in taxis.

“The fare structure applicable for metro and buses or the discounts available on Nol blue passes will not be applicable in taxis,” Adel Shakeri, Director of RTA’s Transportation Systems, said.

“It wasn’t any easy task to get the system in place. We have been working on the project over the last two years and we have had to face a lot of issues. But through dedicated studies and cooperation from different entities we have managed to put in place a world class payment solution,” said Bhairav Trivedi, CEO of Network International, who worked with RTA to set up the payment system.

With the upgrade of the payment system, people using NFC-enabled phones can also make payments of taxi and other transport related fares.

“This is a good initiative and it will really help improve the cap experience in Dubai. It will help increase the revenue as well as improve service for customers. We are looking forward to having this system by early next year and we are ready for the next big step,” said Elrayah Omar Ebrahim, General Manager of Metro Taxi, one of the five taxi operators in Dubai that run a total of 8,700 taxis.