Dubai Taxi Corp posts $58m net profit in 2012

Dubai's transport authority on Saturday announced that its taxi unit clocked AED214.3m ($58.2m) net profit in 2012, up from AED146m for the previous year.

The Roads and Transport Authority said total operational revenues of the Dubai Taxi Corporation reached AED1.09bn last year, a marginal rise on the AED1.05bn seen in 2011.

Operational expenses of the DTC incurred last year hit AED749.7m, the RTA said in a statement.

Mattar Al Tayer, chairman and executive director of the RTA, said he was delighted with DTC's performance indicators.

Dubai taxis completed a total of 37.25 million trips at a daily average of 111,528 trips in 2012, nearly four million more than the previous year.

The number of passengers lifted by DTC cabbies last year touched 74.5 million passengers compared with 67.1 million in 2011, a growth rate of about 10 percent.

Last month, Dubai’s taxi services were named the third best in the world, according to a study by travel website TripAdvisor.

A poll of 75,000 respondents worldwide by the site ranked the emirate’s ubiquitous beige cabs second only to those of Tokyo and Singapore in terms of standard of service. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Moscow, Beijing and Kuala Lumpur were castigated for the quality of their cabbies.

The study, which looked at 40 key tourist destinations worldwide, also scrutinised cities on criteria including friendliest locals, cleanest streets, ease of getting around, value for money and shopping.

In December, the RTA confirmed it is planning to reapply Salik charges to all taxis from the middle of January.

It said in a statement that the move was aimed at encouraging more people to use the Dubai Metro system.

It added that the Salik charges would be reintroduced gradually as taxi meter systems will need to be upgraded so charges are added automatically without any intervention from the driver.