Commuters will be formally allowed to share car journeys to work under closely monitored schemes to be introduced in Dubai and Abu Dhabi as transport authorities seek to cut traffic congestion and reduce pollution.
The Abu Dhabi Government will introduce registration schemes to regulate carpooling as part of a long-term transport plan to help the city to cope with a rapidly growing population and increasing tourism. Officials are considering a number of methods.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) said yesterday that it was launching an online registration service to allow drivers to apply for licences.
In both cities, motorists have complained about being unfairly fined up to Dh5,000 for allegedly running illegal taxi services when they were simply giving colleagues lifts to work.
John Lee, the highway and transport planning adviser at the Department of Transport, said a policy on carpooling in the capital was “one of several initiatives that have been recognised as being necessary under the broader policy question of demand management”.
Carpooling was being addressed in the department’s surface transport master plan, which is at the heart of the wider Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 and aims at developing an integrated public transport system with a high-speed passenger and freight rail service alongside a metro and expanded road network.
The city’s population is expected to grow threefold to more than three million by 2030, while tourist numbers may quadruple to eight million a year. As the number of visitors increases, improvements to the transport system are seen as critical to efforts to make Abu Dhabi sustainable, tackle congestion and end widespread reliance on taxis and private cars.
In Dubai yesterday, a senior RTA official announced that people working at the same organisation and wishing to share lifts would be able to register for a carpooling licence online within one month. After applicants have entered their personal details and information about the vehicles, the authority will conduct background checks on colleagues intending to carpool before issuing a letter of approval, which could be presented to inspectors as proof of authorisation. Registration will be compulsory.
Khalid Mohammed Hashim, a director at the RTA’s Public Transport Agency, insisted that inspectors knew the difference between a taxi operating illegally and someone driving friends to work.
“It’s when they are seen to stop at the roadside and negotiate that it is obviously an illegal taxi and that’s when we fine them,” he said. “It’s only when money is changing hands that it becomes a legal issue.
“The licensing system is a way of protecting legitimate carpoolers. The permits will be for four people in one car,” Vans and trucks would not be included in the scheme.
Environmentalists support an organised system of carpooling as a way of easing congestion among commuters. Ibrahim al Zu’ubi, the environmental adviser to the Emirates Driving Association and the head of the environmental education project at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai, described the scheme as an excellent idea.
“Not only does it help reduce society’s environmental footprint, but it has positive social functions as well,” he said. He favoured regulation from the outset “as we are not used to it in this country”.
The initiative was one of several outlined yesterday. The Public Transport Agency hopes to reduce traffic by encouraging organisations to organise alternatives to the use of private cars by their employees and signed agreements with Emirates airline, Standard Chartered Bank, Cargo Village, Emaar Properties, Al Baraha Hospital, Zayed University, the Bustan Rotana Hotel and the Burjuman Centre. It will carry out joint studies with each organisation to devise solutions that could range from carpooling to the provision of buses.
Another initiative being considered is the introduction of flexible or staggered shifts, with employees starting and finishing work at different times of day to minimise traffic congestion.
Abdul Mohsen Younis Ibrahim, the chief executive officer of the RTA’s strategy and corporate governance sector, said: “We all know that Dubai’s traffic congestion is caused mainly by the heavy use of private cars.
“This scheme will solve part of the problem, as it will contribute to a decrease in the use of private cars within these organisations. It will save time and costs for the companies and I believe there’s a psychological benefit too: there will be a decrease in stress caused by traffic jams and therefore an increase in productivity. A person under stress because of their journey to work will not be as productive.”
The RTA is leading by example, introducing a bus service next month for employees to travel from Sharjah and Ajman to Dubai every day.
Anthony Richardson and Karen Attwood
Page last updated 01 January 2020