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Sharjah cabbies drive commuters up the wall

For commuters, moving in and around Sharjah is becoming increasingly difficult because of shortage of taxis as well as the attitude of the drivers.

“For many months now, we are seeing a shortage of taxis in Sharjah. And now the attitude of taxi drivers is also becoming difficult to handle,” said Naeem Qureshi, a regular commuter to the industrial area of Sharjah.

“For me, it is becoming increasingly difficult day-by-day to find a taxi early in the morning for the Industrial Area. On several occasions, drivers have refused to give me lift saying that the Industrial Area is too crowded and they will not go there. For this reason, I am forced to wait for a taxi, sometimes, for more than half an hour,” said Qureshi.

Other commuters say that if the roads are crowded, the taxi drivers often force them to disembark a long distance away from their destination refusing to travel further. “On several occasions, I have been forced to walk to several minutes because the taxi driver refused to take me to my destination saying that it was too crowded. What is the use of a taxi, if I have to walk anyway?” said an upset Maroof Khan.

Azeem Shah, a driver of a private taxi, defending his case, said: “For the whole day, the streets of Sharjah are crowded and it is very tiring to drive in such a crowd. So, sometimes, a driver may refuse to visit a crowded area. It is any way Ramadan and everybody is fasting and so they tire easily.”

The Sharjah Transport Corporation (STC) launched a plan earlier this year to phase out a total of 3,000 private taxis in the emirate and replace them with new metered taxis.

“These new taxis will have drivers who have been trained and taught about rules regarding their behaviour with passengers,” said an STC official. “Drivers have also been taught the basics about hygiene so that no passenger is offended,” he added.

He also said that drivers have also been taught methods of dealing with clients including being civilised and avoiding topics that may lead to arguments.

Of the 5,400 private taxis operating in Sharjah, the corporation will phase out a total of 3,000 this year, and will replace 3,000 taxis operated by four franchise companies. In 2005, some 2,400 taxis will gradually be phased out and the franchised companies will start off with 750 taxis each.

At present, 265 Citi Taxis have hit the roads and by end of December 2004, the total number of taxis on the roads will be 750, say officials. Citi Taxi operates as Cars Taxi in Dubai which is a division of ETA Ascon Group and a franchisee of Dubai Transport Corporation.

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