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11 Hotels, Resorts Sign in For Water Taxi Services

DUBAI - Eleven hotels, resorts and clubs in the emirate have agreed to provide water taxi services to their customers by setting up piers in cooperation with the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), a top Marine Agency official told Khaleej Times on Thursday.

They include Jebel Ali Resort and Spa, Park Hyatt, Sheraton Jumeirah, Inter Continental Hotel, Dubai Festival City, Hilton Dubai Jumeirah, Dubai Marina Yacht Club, Dubai Ladies Club, Al Boom Tourist Village and Ottoman Palace Hotel.

Khalid Al Zahid, Director of the Maritime Projects Department at the Marine Agency, said the agency is holding meetings with officials of hotels and establishments along the waterfront to discuss how and when the water taxi service can be launched.

Earlier, Khaleej Times had reported that in addition to the 16 designated water taxi stations, 60 smaller stations or piers would be constructed to provide parking facilities and stops for passengers.

Each pier will have a name and a number which the passenger needs to inform the customer service if he/she wants the water taxi service.

The service, which is expected to be launched by the middle of next year, will be on call. In the first phase, 10 water taxis will be introduced.

“One of the main topics being discussed is cost sharing between the government and the parties who benefit from the service. This will increase the number of water taxi stations, serving the public as well as hotels,” Al Zahid said. The cost of building stations or piers will be shared by the RTA and hotels. Stations located in areas which have no hotels or establishments will be constructed by the RTA alone.

The water taxis will have the liberty to sail to any waterfront location a passenger might want to visit, provided that a suitable berth for boarding and disembarking exists.

A pilot run is expected in the middle of next year, the official said.

Earlier, officials had confirmed that the water taxis would have meters like the road taxis.

joy@khaleejtimes.com