3,268 cabs to join Dubai Taxi fleet

The additional cabs would lead to a 34 per cent jump in the number of taxis by 2020.

By 2020, there will be 12,765 taxis plying on the roads of Dubai, according to five-year plan endorsed by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).
An additional 3,268 taxis will join the Dubai Taxi fleet, which would reflect a jump of about 34 per cent in the number of 9,497 vehicles taxis in operation now.
The move to increase the number of taxis was taken in connection with the growing demand for the service, with statistics showing that taxis in Dubai had made about 109 million trips serving more than 217.751 million riders.
The Board of Executive Directors of RTA chaired by Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, endorsed the 2016-2020 of the Dubai Taxi.
"The number of taxis in operation last year amounted to 8,997 vehicles, which has soared this year to 9,497 vehicles. The 5-Year Plan sets the planned additions of vehicles to the fleet as follows: 880 vehicles in 2016; 552 vehicles in 2017; 580 vehicles in 2018; 612 vehicles in 2019; and 644 vehicles in 2020," Al Tayer said.
"Increasing the number of taxis was decided in response to a comprehensive study about future needs for taxis in Dubai in order to strike a balance between the need of taxi riders and service providers."
The study compiled by the RTA was based on a number of indicators such as the availability of taxis, and the number of productive kilometres compared with the number of kilometers covered by taxicabs.
Al Tayer stated that the RTA wants to strike a balance between the number of vehicles and the number of riders through assessing the number of taxicabs per 1,000 persons of the population.
"RTA is committed to improve the quality of services offered by taxicabs through capitalising on smart systems and modern technologies to meet the needs of customers," he added. Last year, RTA launched Drivers Qualification Centre at Al Ruwayia; the first specialised smart centre for training taxi drivers, taxi drivers of franchise companies, and chauffeurs of on-demand deluxe Limo operating in Dubai under the supervision of the public transport agency.
RTA has also recently launched the Taxi Service Excellence Award to honour the best taxi company and the top ten taxi drivers in Dubai.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com