Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has approved a plan for improving services of the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) comprising 64 initiatives to be undertaken up to 2021, said the director general and chairman of RTA.

Mattar Al Tayer also sanctioned a plan for improving attitudes of cabdrivers of DTC encompassing 22 initiatives to be implemented up to 2019.

Al Tayer reiterated RTA’s commitment to upgrading the taxi service in Dubai Emirate provided through DTC or franchise companies. He also stressed the importance of utilizing the latest technologies in delivering taxi service via multiple channels highlighted by smart means for the sake of availing added happiness to clients.

He also called for beefing-up the taxi & limo fleet to catch up with the rapid growth seen by Dubai in various business, service, financial, property and tourist sectors among others.

Al Tayer made this statement during a visit to the premises of Dubai Taxi Corporation where he met with directors & managers of the DTC in the presence of Mohammed Obaid Al Mulla, member of RTA’s Board of executive directors cum chair of DTC Council and Dr Yousef Al Ali, CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation.

“The projects improvement plan of DTC services spans five key aspects. The first is the introduction of smart & innovative transport solution systems. It covers rolling out a trial run of autonomous vehicles along with the operation of smart taxicabs capable of communicating with surrounding vehicles, providing the infrastructure of transport systems such as light signals, and embarking on trial runs of electric/gas-powered vehicles,” said Al Tayer.

“The second aspect relates to upgrading the infrastructure to accommodate the operation needs. This requires the construction of a brand new & integrated depot for taxis in Jebel Ali, upgrading the command & control centre, rejuvenating the booking & dispatch centre, adding more taxi ranks across Dubai, and expanding maintenance workshops including additional service bays.

“The third aspect is related to the diversification of sources of revenues & profits through alliances with transport companies, ads on school transport buses, and transit services for employees & senior staffs of companies. The fourth aspect focuses on drivers & employees happiness services involving augmenting the worth of rewards & incentives for drivers. The fifth aspect is concerned with promoting the brand of DTC through offering new services such as the towing of vehicles, ladies limo, tourist limo and cargo taxi,” explained Al Tayer.

“The plan for improving the conduct of DTC cabdrivers contains 22 initiatives covering five aspects. The first is technology, which covers upgrading the technological systems of the customers’ happiness centre, fitting taxicabs with surveillance cameras & interactive screens, implementing DTC customers’ relation management system, and the running of taxi on-road performance monitoring system.

“The second aspect relates to legislations. It encompasses a host of initiatives such as the improvement of quality offences code, procedures for spotting offending drivers, improvement of rewards & incentives system, and the revision of conditions for the rotation of drivers over a variety of occupations.

“The third aspect relates to operations and covers the improvement of HR procedures, and the assessment of workload on drivers by adding two hours to the weekly rest and offering a weekly holiday to cabbies. It also includes upgrading drivers’ recruitment processes guided by conduct complaint results where the emphasis will be placed on training on using different & creative techniques.

“It also includes recruiting drivers from new nationalities, and upgrading drivers’ educative programs with an emphasis on the etiquette of dealing with customers, and revamped procedures for investigating complaints & conduct offences on the part of drivers.

“The fourth aspect focuses on performance through following up performance reports, reviewing & analyzing targets, developing cracking solutions on feedbacks and enhancing departmental improvement plans. The fifth aspect focuses on measurement. It measures the impact of implementing improvement initiatives & projects, the efficiency of technological systems & usage ratios, and checking the extent of compliance with the implementation of legislations as well as the effectiveness of operations executed,” added Al Tayer.

It is noteworthy that the RTA has recently adopted a plan for beefing up DTC taxi fleet by more than 38 per cent. Accordingly, the number of vehicles is set to rise from 5046 cabs in 2016 to as many as 7000 cabs by 2020. The number of limos is expected to see a sharp increase by a whopping 240 per cent from 146 vehicles in 2016 to 500 vehicles in 2020. The upsurge in the number of taxicabs is intended to satisfy the projected steady increase in customers demand, be it from residents or visitors, and serve the needs of Dubai hosting Expo 2020.

The plan envisages transforming 50 per cent of taxicabs into hybrid cabs by 2021 as part of a plan to curb carbon emissions from the taxi sector by 2 per cent in compliance with the needs of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and the Green Economy drive. Accordingly, the number of hybrid vehicles of DTC is set to leapfrog from 145 vehicles in 2015 to 2280 vehicles by 2021. This massive increase is being contemplated because of deregulating fuel prices and the low lifecycle cost of hybrid vehicles compared with conventional vehicles. – TradeArabia News Service