The Board of Executive Directors of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), chaired by HE Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA has endorsed a contract for procuring 554 environment-friendly hybrid vehicles.
These vehicles, which are fitted with a combination of fuel engine and electric motors, currently constitute about 11% of the fleet of the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC).
The move is part of a masterplan to curb the pollution from vehicle exhausts and make vehicles friendly to the environment of Dubai.
By the end of this year, the DTC targets to beef-up the proportion of hybrid vehicles to 17% of its taxi fleet, which currently comprises 503 vehicles.
“This step has been taken in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for adopting power-efficient solutions with a positive bearing on humans and development projects of all sorts.
The directives call for nurturing a safe, clean, attractive and sustainable environment capable of enhancing the image and profile of Dubai.
The step illustrates RTA’s commitment to the Master Plan calling for curbing carbon emissions from the taxi sector by 2% as required by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and the Green Economy initiative,” said Al Tayer.
“The underlying objective of using hybrid vehicles operation is to support Dubai initiative themed: Green vehicles for a cleaner environment, besides assessing the feasibility of using hybrid vehicles in the Dubai Taxi fleet.
RTA is the first government entity in the region to experiment the operation of hybrid taxicabs fitted with electric-fuel engines in Dubai taxi from 2008 to 2011. More info
Source: emirates247.com
