Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Transport has issued a new law that forces taxi firms to install communication and tracking systems in their vehicles in order to reduce and eventually stop the roaming of cabs in the streets.

Easy Taxi, a leading taxi e-hailing service, has found that it increases efficiency of taxi drivers by 20 per cent by reducing taxi roaming time in the streets when customers order taxis using the application.

Dr Mahmoud Fouz, chief executive officer of Easy Taxi Middle East, said: “Easy Taxi prides itself on connecting passengers and drivers in a convenient, easy and safe manner. The user experience is paramount for us. Using the Easy Taxi App ensures that a customer avails the services in a timely manner, eliminating the roaming time of taxis on the roads.

“This ensures better working conditions for our drivers as they will not make losses in case of searching for customers or heavy traffic while trying to secure customer.”

The app allows customers to order a taxi to their location and track its progress, taking out the standing-around-and-waiting process usual to looking for a taxi.

This in turn helps drivers find fares more efficiently, cutting out their need to hunt down a potential customer. Lesser unnecessary taxis on the road then leads to fewer traffic problems.

The law gives drivers 45 days to install the systems, after which taxi cabs will only be available by on-call.

“If all taxis and companies followed suit and enforced tracking systems, we would cater to demand in a very efficient manner and 20% less taxis would be needed to fulfill this demand,” Dr Fouz added. - TradeArabia News Service