Wait for Dubai taxi is over: Hala Taxi from Friday at no extra charge

If you spot a black-grey taxi cruising along Dubai roads, it is not your imagination that is taking you for a ride. This taxi now belongs to the fleet of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

The black-grey vehicle is dubbed Hala Taxi, and will take its first ride on Friday, November 1, 2013  which is also Public Transportation Day.

Hala Taxi will serve customers who book a taxi only.

Every single day, 5 per cent of the total number of taxi trips is booked in advance through the Booking and Dispatch Center of the Public Transport Agency (PTA) of the RTA.

Due to an increasing number of residents, tourists and a number of new development in the city, this number is growing, and there were complaints that the taxis were not always enough to meet the demand, explained Youssef Ali, CEO of the PTA.

“The underlying objective of Hala Taxi is to cater to the public needs and meet the growing number of requests received by the Dispatch Center at the Agency under the objective of raising customers’ satisfaction considering it a strategic goal of the RTA," he said during the official announcement of the new taxi service yesterday.

"The service is also meant to boost the drive of the Dubai Government in this regard, provide an effective mechanism for handling the public complaints forwarded to the Dispatch Center, accelerate the dispatch of cabs to customers, provide better coverage to high-demand areas through the Center, improve the rate of cabdrivers response to the Bookings of the Center, and augment the revenues of Dispatch Center through expanding the delivery of the service in a more distinctive and professional manner, added Al Ali.

A total number of 155 vehicles will hit the streets in the initial stage, including 25 ladies-only taxis distinguished with the colours black and pink.

These taxis will not respond to taxi request on the street, said Al Ali.

In addition, bookings will remain to be allocated to the regular fleet of taxis. "There are about 12,000 bookings made daily; Hala Taxi will serve 30 per cent of these requests. If the service is successful, more vehicles will be added to Hala Taxi the fleet."

The fare of a Hala Taxi trip will be the same as a regular booked taxi trip, which adds Dh6 to the total fare between 6am and 10pm and Dh7 between 1pm and 6am.

During the presentation, Adel Shakri, Director of Transport Systems at the PTA informed that the newest payment technologies would be available in the vehicles, being through Nol card, credit cardx or mobile payment enabled through NFC.

In addition, Wifi will be available in every taxi, including the Hala taxi.
 

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