Taxi shortage latest threat to Dubai boom

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CHRONIC CONGESTION: The lack of taxis in Dubai and traffic congestion is costing the economy and putting visitors of the city. (Getty Images)

Dubai’s lack of public transport, and in particular the shortage of taxis, has emerged as the latest threat to the long-term sustainability of the booming Gulf Arab city.

Business execs and tourists, of which six million visit Dubai every year, are increasingly complaining about the time spent standing in searing temperatures and competing with a dozen other people for the odd taxi that passes by.

The situation has got so bad that some are even talking about not returning because of the traffic nightmare.

“This is the worst city for taxis that I have seen,” Bala T.R., a 43-year-old chartered accountant from India, told newswire Bloomberg.

“It gets worse each time I come,” he said, adding that if Dubai did not sort the problem out he would not be coming back.

Bala, who visits the city around four times a year, said he spends an hour on average waiting for a taxi, while Azimullah Azizullah, managing director of a Dubai-based shipping firm, put the wait at two hours on the street and half an hour at places like malls.

And then there is the prospect of sitting for hours in bumper to bumper traffic. According to Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), traffic congestion is costing the city’s economy around 4.6 billion dirhams ($1.25 billion) a year in lost man-hours.

But it is not simply a lack of taxis causing the problem. In fact Dubai has more taxis per person than most other major global cities.

According to Bloomberg, Dubai has around 4.9 taxis per 1,000 people, compared to 4.7 in Tokyo, 2.7 in London and 1.6 in New York.

The problem has more to do with the city’s lack of public transport, soaring temperatures that can reach as high as 50 degrees Celsius in the summer months, and the cheap price of fuel, according to analysts.

“So far, Dubai doesn't have any public transport system worth mentioning.” Eckart Woertz, chief economist at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai, told the newswire.

“The way it is, traffic is a serious disadvantage for Dubai as a place to do business.”

The government has recognised the problem and the RTA plans to spend 52.5 billion dirhams over the next five years to improve road, bus, rail and marine transport, including construction of a metro that is set to come online next year.

Abdul Aziz Malik, chief executive officer of Dubai Taxi, one of the major taxi operators in the city, said the investment should go some way to easing the shortage of cabs.

“That should help ease the problem,” he told Bloomberg.

However, analysts question whether the improvements will be enough to solve Dubai’s traffic problems, given the climate and other factors.

Blair Hagkull, regional managing director for real estate consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle, said even when the metro opened it would still be difficult to get motorists to give up their cars.

“The metro is not a panacea,” Hagkull told Bloomberg. “It will be the catalyst.”

The RTA was not immediately available for comment when contacted by Arabian Business.

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READERS' COMMENTS

Taxi situation in dubai
Posted by Mahammad Hussain, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 2 September 2008 at 21:29 UAE time


The problems i am facing are multiple with respect to local transport in dubai considering the commendable progress Dubai has made. If you want to go by bus, they are in-frequent, long wait in hot climate, very long routes for shorter distances and sometimes they don't stop at the bus stops.
If you want a TAXI then forget it. They don't stop, if stops the driver will ask you where you want to go...and if he thinks it ok then he will take you otherwise he just drives away. Yes, you can complain....but how many times will you complain....i am now used to it as time passes by.
Apart from Bus and taxi there is no other means of public transport like Auto Rickshaws, train, mini-buses, private lifts etc.
Fed up and wish to take a car....license training institutes are full and long wait....the story continues.
Apart from the public transport, I have faced no other issue in Dubai...I am sure RTA has some solution for these never ending issue..!!

Taxi Shortage
Posted by Syeda Khan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Tuesday 15 July 2008 at 12:59 UAE time

The taxi problem is becoming a nightmare here since the taxi drivers have become choosy & carry passengers only to the places they seem to like and sometimes from my personal experience i can say that it really tests one's patience out waiting for these taxis. Though RTA has laid out stringent rules and regulations for the taxi drivers, they don't seem to follow. Sometime back, i had to call a taxi to Al Quoz/Sheik Zayed Road where my office is located and i booked for the cab early morning requesting a cab for the late evening. To my utter dismay, there was no sign of the great cab and apart from that the driver called up to say many hours later than the expected time that he has to go Jebel Ali and cannot come. I really wonder and hope this problem gets solved once the Metro is operational. I would also like to mention here that sometimes many taxis drive past you but not willing to stop and when stopped they signal that they are on call and you feel the pinch especially during the summer season.

Taxi shortage
Posted by Srivatsa, Dubai, U A E on Tuesday 15 July 2008 at 11:12 UAE time


RTA is doing an excellent job but with respect to Taxi they have failed miserably. I wiuold suggest the following:

1. Encourage drivers to show consideration for people waiting for taxi / bus by giving them a lift to the nearest destination on their way.

2. Remove the road divider on the Shk Zayed Road and after the Gharoud bridge going towards Sharjah.

3. Have more mini buses and shorten the routes - like from Bur Dubai to Deira, the bus goes towards Rashid hopital, Carefoure etc. Instead it should take direct route on Maltoum bridge.

4. In JAFZA there are no bus shelters and people stand in hot sun for hours waiting for the bus. Why can't the people traveling alone in the car have courtesy and pick them up and drop them to the nearest possible desitnation.

Taxis
Posted by Dimple Shastri, Dubai on Tuesday 15 July 2008 at 10:32 UAE time

Sad but true, the fact remains that it is easier to get 3 loans 8 times your salary, than getting a taxi here in Dubai. The transport system here is abysmal, it reminds me to be thankful for the London Transport System, which runs like clockwork. Many people, like myself, who do not wish to drive - reasons why, are quite obvious - have to either depend on friends, or the appalling Taxi service here. Taxi Drivers are frustrated people, who though have chosen their line of work, refuse to take passengers to certain areas, or complain when we say; Deira, Sharjah or even Bur Dubai.
It's not as though the RTA has left us with any other option, the Public Transport system is practically non-existent at the moment, and the buses are always packed, so a lot of people such as myself don't even look at buses as an option.
Dubai is out to be No.1 in everything, or build the Tallest Towers, Longest Bridges, and Biggest this or that, but to be quite frank, Dubai is turning in to the Biggest Joke.

The RTA do not encourage Car Pooling, which has to be a main reason why the situation is as it is now. They should have more Taxi Stands in prominent areas, and larger taxis, which can take a number of people to a certain area, especially in Shopping malls. They should have queues for people who want to go Bur Dubai, and take at least 6 people in each taxi, the chances are that in the 2 hour queue in Shopping Malls, at least 5 people are going to the same area.

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