1,000 taxis to cut waits in Dubai

DUBAI // An extra 1,000 taxis will be put on the roads introduced next year in a bid to reduce passenger waiting times, a senior public transport official has revealed. Abdul Aziz Malik, the chief executive of the Dubai Taxi Agency, said the new taxis would increase the total size of the fleet to around about 8,000 vehicles. "We will have an extra 1,000 taxis in 2009 and this should make a significant difference," said Mr Malik said yesterday. "There is a lot of demand for taxis in Dubai, and as the population and the number of tourist visitors continues to grow, that demand will only increase so it is vital we put in place the infrastructure to keep up with that. "Our call centre receives a lot of complaints from passengers saying there are not enough taxis available. "We are taking on more drivers each month, and they are undergoing extensive training before being allowed to get behind the wheel and carry passengers." The news follows a recent announcement by the Public Transport Agency (PTA) that Cars Taxis, one of the franchise companies of the the RTA's Road and Transport Authority (RTA), had brought in 400 new taxis, bringing the current total number in the city to 6,900. Dubai residents regularly complain of a lack of taxis. Long queues of people waiting for taxis at the airport and shopping centres have become a common sight and many people say they have difficulty hailing them. Michael Braund, 29, a software engineer living at the Arabian Ranches, said: "It'll be great if this alleviates the problem a bit. I've frequently been kept waiting for an hour and a half after ordering a taxi - I even had to wait two hours once on a Thursday night. "There's just not enough taxis on the road at the moment to cater for Dubai's population. As the place grows that's going to become even more of a headache." Euan Reedie, a holidaymaker from Plymouth, England, added said: "I've been relying heavily on taxis during my holiday here, and at times it's ridiculous - particularly at busy times like Thursday and Friday evenings. I think bringing in more taxis seems the best way of tackling the problem." On Monday, the PTA announced that 54 taxi ranks operating across Dubai are were now fully operational. Each of the taxi stations has been allocated a number, and passengers will be able to order a cab taxi directly by texting if none are available at the rank. An up-to-date map, produced by the RTA and showing the locations of all the ranks is now available to the public. Many of the taxi ranks are in densely populated areas like such as Deira and Bur Dubai, where residents frequently complain about finding cabs. Other key taxi ranks have been established at Mall of the Emirates, Times Square, Madinat Jumeirah and Uptown Mirdif. The locations of the taxi ranks were chosen after the Public Transport Agency PTA studied the level of demand in different areas. Agency officials also travelled to Singapore to evaluate their that city's taxi rank network. @email:arichardson@thenational.ae