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Low wage group feels the pinch of metered taxis

DUBAI — The lower income strata has been forced to rework their budget for commuting and travel following the gradual phasing out of private taxis by the Sharjah Transport Corporation (STC) and replacing them with metered ones.

Though several people welcomed the move stating that the new taxis were cleaner and the drivers uniformed and better behaved, others say travelling between the emirates has become very expensive. Still others believe that the phasing out of private share-a-taxi would only encourage car owners to offer lift for a price which is a banned practice in both Dubai and Sharjah.

“Earlier, I used to travel to Dubai by the share-a-taxi service, which are hard to come by now. There are long queues and the crowd on the roadside has increased manifold,” said Mohammed Khan, a carpenter by profession. “I have to travel to Dubai from Rolla to complete a job, but I can’t find a share-a-taxi. I cannot afford to take a metered taxi from here to Deira,” he complained. “I don’t have that much money,” he added ruefully. STC officials said they had launched the drive to replace 3,000 private taxis with metered taxis in the emirate last year.

“The new taxis have drivers who are trained and taught rules regarding their behaviour with passengers,” an official said.

“Drivers have also been taught the basics about hygiene so that no passenger is offended,” he said, adding that the drivers were also taught on how to deal with passengers in a civil way and avoid topics that may lead to arguments.

Of the 5,400 private taxis operating in Sharjah, the corporation phased out 3,000 last year, and is replacing them with 3,000 taxis operated by four franchise companies.

This year, 2,400 taxis will gradually be phased out. Nearly, 265 Citi Taxis hit the roads by end of December, 2004, and the remaining 485 will also be in place this year.

On April 30 this year, 30 of the 850 Union Taxis started operating in the emirate.