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29 March 2024

Dubai taxi fleet to expand with 500 taxis this year

Currently, the fleet consists of 9087 taxis. (File)

Published
By Majorie van Leijen

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) is adding 500 taxis to its taxi fleet this year, revealed Adel Shakri, Director, Transportation Systems, RTA.

“Currently the fleet consists of 9087 taxis, this will expand to more than 9500 taxis by the end of 2015,” he said in an interview with Emirates 24|7.

The addition will include regular taxis as well as Hala Taxis, the dedicated taxi service responding to bookings made through the Dispatch Centre only.

“The expansion will concur in three stages. In the first quarter, 180 taxis will be added. Half of these will be regular taxis, half Hala Taxis.

“In the second quarter another 140 taxis will be added, all of them regular taxis. In the last quarter, 180 taxis more taxis will be introduced on the road, of which 90 regular and 90 Hala Taxis,” explained Shakri.

The various taxi companies active under the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) will be able to bid for the expansion of the fleet. The DTC runs its own taxis, as well as franchises 5 taxi companies, distinguished by the different taxi-roof colours.

The latest expansion of the taxi fleet of Dubai was carried out in September last year, when the DTC added 295 new vehicles to its Hala Taxi fleet of 155 cars to meet the booking requests of its dispatch centre.

The Hala Taxi fleet has formed an integral part of the overall services of the Dubai taxi fleet. “This service gives people more security about their taxi booking. Previously, it was reported that taxis could take a very long time to find the customer, or not show up at all. The Hala Taxi is dedicated to the booking and cannot pick up passengers on the way,” Adel explained earlier.

The introduction of Hala Taxi was the main reason for a reduction in the number of complaints about taxis in Dubai.