Dubai to make 80% of all taxi trips e-hail instead of street-hail

Dubai to make 80% of all taxi trips e-hail instead of street-hail

Dubai: Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has endorsed a plan for a gradual shift from conventional taxi’s street-hail to e-hail services, aiming for an 80 per cent e-hail adoption rate in the coming years. The decision stems from the success of Hala e-hailing rides, which accounted for 30 per cent of all taxi trips in Dubai in 2022. As per the plan, RTA will allocate a dedicated fleet of taxis to exclusively offer e-hail services using specific mechanisms and performance indicators for the service. Hala will be responsible for promoting the e-hail service by creating new channels geared towards attracting more users and implementing incentive initiatives for drivers. The plan also encompasses designating only those zones where e-hail services are accessible, allocating parking spaces for both street-hail taxis and e-hail vehicles, expanding parking availability in high-demand areas, and identifying these parking spaces on the RTA and Hala smart apps. Users need to download the Careem app on their mobile devices and set up a personal account. They can then choose Hala vehicles from the available options and confirm their pick-up location. Once the destination and preferred payment method are selected, users can tap the ‘Yalla’ button to finalise the