Beat the heat with carpooling in Dubai

Dubai - It reduces congestion and takes some pressure off parking space

Searing heat. Nightmarish congestion. Parking blues.
There is a triple whammy waiting for you as you plan to take out your car.

The scorching sun makes a mockery of your AC. The snarl-ups on the road exasperate you. And yes, not to forget the parking trouble - to round off your trauma.
But there's no need to keep fretting and frowning over it all. There's a way out: Carpooling.

Many people in the UAE are opting for the practice. This helps one to beat the heat by reducing the driving stress and reaching one's destination in lesser time. Less car fleet on the road means less clogging and congestion as well as less pressure on parking space. If not a breeze, carpooling can make your journey less tedious - and economical too. 
Read here: Be smart, join a carpool...
And the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is rightly promoting the practice. It had launched a smart app named Sharekni two years ago. The app - available in Android and iOS platforms - enables groups of riders to share vehicles while travelling from and to their workplaces.

Carpooling is the shared use of a car especially for commuting to work and often by people who each have a car.

Through RTA's app, individuals can register details of the car-sharing process where relevant permits can be issued electronically. The service is available inter-emirates and is applicable for both passengers as well as drivers.
Carpooling is restricted to two round trips daily for the people registered to the car and there is a permit per car. Users can share petrol costs. However, RTA has stated that the app must not be used as a moneymaking tool.
Flouting carpooling rules and riding without a permit from the RTA will result in a fine of Dh5,000.

According to RTA officials, such a practice will cut the number of kilometres travelled, reduce the costs of operating vehicles, streamline the use of car parks around workplaces, alleviate the lack of parking slots, and lower pollution and fuel consumption rates associated with the high traffic volumes.
The website/app enables surfers to search for vehicles using a number of variables to fine-tune their search and assist potential riders.
The added features include saving search results for possible future use which saves users' time, displaying riders and drivers in a map, providing a control panel enabling users to update and display journey and personal details, and offering users the option of normal search or search through maps.
The app provides details about the vehicle, a specific route, best-rated driver, and the most frequent routes. The passenger can look for drivers who ply routinely on a given route and one-time trips are also possible. Women passengers also have the option to ride with lady drivers.
Dubai.ae has shared steps on how to carpool safely in the city.

To register as a driver: (You must know your driving license & car-plate number)
1. Go to www.sharekni.ae and register as a new user.
2. Enter all details including email, contacts and create a username and password. After agreeing to terms and conditions, you will be asked to log in to your email address and click the link.
3. Continue with registration and fill in personal, location and driver/passenger preference details. Also enter your driving license & car-plate number.
4. You have now registered as a driver and will receive a confirmation from the RTA. Log in with your username and search for passengers with mutual commute and add them to your preferences. Remember to keep the RTA confirmation printout in your car and show to RTA/Dubai Police official in case of random checks.
To register as a passenger:
1. Go to www.sharekni.ae and register as a new user.
2. Enter all details including email, contacts and create a username and password. After agreeing to terms and conditions, you will be asked to log in to your email address and click the link.
3. Continue with registration and fill in personal, location and passenger preference details.
4. You have now registered as a passenger and will receive an SMS confirmation. If any carpool driver searches the Sharekni database and finds your commute destination and timing matching, they could contact you to carpool.

• Dubai