E-hail taxis helping ease traffic in Dubai, RTA says
Switch from traditional street-hailing equates to 7,600 fewer regular vehicles on roads
Dubai: A shift towards using e-hail taxis instead of traditional street-hailing equates to removing 7,600 regular vehicles from the roads daily in Dubai. The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said this has “significantly improved sustainability and traffic flow”.
The rising trend has encouraged taxi users to embrace e-booking technologies, leading to reducing the roaming of taxis on the emirate’s roads, as most taxis are now dedicated to fulfilling pre-booked requests through smart applications.
Adel Shakri, Director of Planning and Business Development at RTA’s Public Transport Agency, said: “RTA’s agencies and sectors remain committed to developing strategies aimed at mitigating traffic congestion—a challenge driven by the emirate’s booming economy and population growth. Over the past two years, RTA has achieved significant milestones in transforming Dubai’s taxi sector through e-hail.”
He noted that the sector recorded a 16% growth in the market share of e-hail trips in 2024 compared to 2023. Additionally, Hala’s market share during peak hours rose from 42% in 2023 to 50% in 2024, demonstrating the increasing preference of taxi users in Dubai for e-hail over traditional street-hailing. This shift equates to removing 7,600 regular vehicles from the roads daily, facilitated by the deployment of taxis specifically dedicated to e-hail during peak hours.
Faster service
The director added: “Customer and driver satisfaction levels also demonstrated notable improvement. Over 74% of e-booked trips in 2024 had a waiting time of less than 3.5 minutes. Driver satisfaction improved as well, with a daily reduction in driving time by 50 minutes and a 4% decrease in travel distances.”
From an environmental standpoint, Shakri said, the transition to e-hail led to a considerable reduction in CO2 emissions, totalling 20,000 tonnes in 2024. This achievement was driven by reducing the average wasted driving distance by 3km per trip for e-hailed rides compared to conventional taxi trips, equating to a saving of five minutes of unnecessary driving per trip.
