By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter www.gulfnews.com
Dubai:Â The total revenue of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)-run Dubai Taxi crossed Dh1 billion in 2011, with more than 125 million passengers hiring cab services to make 62.36 million trips. This is in addition to revenues of privately owned taxi companies.
“The total revenue of Dubai Taxi Corporation [DTC] in 2011 hit Dh1.058 billion, growing the profit earned to Dh146 million,” Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, said in a statement yesterday. The operational revenue was Dh979 million.
The revenue increased by 22 per cent since 2010, when the total revenue was Dh864.341 million.
“DTC’s expenditure amounted to Dh745 million in 2011 whereas expenses in 2010 were about Dh597.497 million,” Al Tayer said.
“The profits earned by the DTC increased from Dh114.695 million in 2010 to Dh146 million in 2011, marking a 28 per cent increase.”
Operational efficiency
The profit is above the franchise fee paid by DTC to the RTA’s Public Transport Agency (PTA), totalling Dh167.025 million — which covers the fees charged by the PTA for number plates as well as for booking and dispatch of cabs.
The operational efficiency of the DTC grew from 93 per cent in 2010 to 96 per cent in 2011, Al Tayer said.
According to Yousuf Al Ali, acting CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation, several policies adopted by DTC helped achieve increased efficiency. “Training programmes for drivers paid off by reducing the accident rate from 1.92 accidents per 100,000km in 2009 to 1.26 accidents per 100,000km in 2011,” he said.
Increase in trips
The recently launched Honest Hands service, which is a special cab service aimed at serving children, women, students, families and special needs people, contributed towards increasing the number of trips by 10 per cent and revenue by 6 per cent, he said. More info
