Motorists using private vehicles as taxis and those offering car-lift services will face fines and deportation, according to a top transport department official.

Ahmed Al Hamadi, Acting CEO of Dubai Transport Corporation (DTC), said: Motorists caught offering such service will be fined Dh5,000. Second-time offenders will be fined Dh10,000. And those who commit the offence twice in a year will be handed over to the police and deportated.”

Terming such services illegal, Al Hamadi warned public against using private taxis and car lifts. Passengers may be exposed to theft or face other risks, he added.

Meanwhile, there has been a 12 per cent increase in the number of traffic offenders in the last two years. RTA statistics reveal there were 2,157 cases in 2010 as against 2,536 in 2011. More info

Dubai: Undercover officials are putting the honesty of cab drivers to the test by purposely leaving valuables behind in cabs and monitoring if they return them, as part of a campaign.

* Image Credit: Francois Nel/Gulf News * There are more than 7,000 taxis in Dubai. The training for drivers is a seven-step programme, and one of the topics covered is courtesy.

If the driver decides to keep laptops, mobile phones, cameras or other valuables left behind by the ‘passengers’, they are sent back to training to learn some basic lessons, the Roads and Transport Authority said yesterday.

“When the ‘Vehicles with No Lost Items’ campaign was first organised in July last year, 21 valuable items were left behind in cabs by officials posing as passengers and three drivers chose not to return them,” Mohammad Yousuf Salih, acting director of fleet operations at Dubai Taxi Corporation, told Gulf News.

These drivers were asked to undergo further training at the Drivers Training and Qualification Centre.

“In the second edition of the campaign, in December, out of 22 drivers tested only one person had to be sent back for training,” Salih said.

There has been a significant improvement in driver behaviour, he said, adding that the success of the campaign in bringing down the number of cases of dishonesty has encouraged RTA to make the campaign an ongoing process.

DUBAI // A “miscommunication” was to blame for the mayhem outside Dubai International Cricket Stadium on the first day of the Test match between Pakistan and England, according to the Roads and Transport Authority.

Cricket fans wait for the taxis outside the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Satish Kumar / The National

About 1,500 people showed up for the first day, and a security guard at the stadium said the queues for taxis started at about 4pm and continued until 7pm.

“There were hundreds of people waiting to find a cab. It was a complete chaos,” he said.

Mohammed Akbar, a Pakistani fan, said: “I waited for nearly two hours to find a cab on Tuesday. There were long queues extending into the stadium from the road.

“We came to enjoy the match, not struggle to catch a taxi. It was terrible.”

Organisers say Dubai Police were on the scene to maintain order among the crowd.

The stadium, located on Emirates Road, is not yet connected to any bus route and people must either take their own cars or rely on taxis to commute to and from the stadium.

One spectator who travelled from the US to watch the match said he was baffled by the mismanagement. “I am surprised that there were not enough taxis to pick up passengers during an important event. I see a lot of taxis cruising around Dubai. This was shocking,” he said.

Other supporters turned to Twitter to voice their frustration. John Harris, posting under the handle RugbyCricketFan, wrote: “We waited 1 hr 40 mins for a taxi. It was dark and very cold by the time we got a cab.”

Responding to the criticism yesterday, a Roads and Transports Authority employee said a miscommunication between Dubai Sports City and the events department of the RTA had led to the problem.

Mohammed Yousuf, the operations director at Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC), said his department should have received written warning about the volume.

“We did not got a letter from Dubai Sports City regarding the event,” he said.

There are 7,700 taxis in Dubai, of which about 3,500 are operated by the DTC under the RTA. More info

DUBAI: The Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) at the Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to integrate efforts to uplift the calibre of taxi services and bring them at par with world-class standards.

The MoU was signed by the CEO of Licensing Agency and Chairperson of DTC Supervisory Committee, Ahmed Hashim Bahrozyan and the Director General of Sharjah Transport, Abdullah Mohammed Al Zarri in the presence of top DTC officials, including the Acting CEO of DTC, Yousef Al Ali.

Also present from Sharjah Transport were the Director of Sharjah Taxi Khalfia Al Suwaidi, and Director of Corporate Communication Saeed Abdullah Al Buraimi.

Bahrozyan thanked the Sharjah Transport for responding to the invitation and seeking to establish a viable partnership between the DTC and Sharjah Transport.

“The signing of this MoU marks the renewed efforts to realise our common objectives and serve the mutual interests of both parties, and pave the way for enhancing the advancement potentials as well as drawing maximum benefits from the existing resources in a way that contributes to improving the taxi transport sector as it has crucial implications on the economic, social and service fields,” he stated.

The Acting CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation Yousef Al Ali said: “Through this MoU, the DTC is aspiring to realise objectives shared with Sharjah Transport in order to maintain communication, interaction and coordination between the two parties to serve their mutual interests and exchange know-how and corporate expertise in all administrative and technical levels.”

This includes sharing relevant information and studies, exchanging visits, holding join meetings and making joint efforts to upgrade systems, legislations and regulations pertinent to taxi sector as well as offering and adopting initiatives related to this field.

“The MoU also calls for taking part in holding conferences, seminars and training courses of common concern with a view to improving the knowledge and skills of the staff of both parties, educating all beneficiaries of taxi service and cooperating in carrying out relevant studies.” More info

DUBAI: There’s a celebration lurking just round the corner. And now you have a choice to make: Make this New Year’s Eve forgettable or unforgettable.

NYE Dubai

Chances are high that your body is weary from the week-long celebrations of Christmas. You’re entering the tail end of the party week, the climax, the grand finale, and unless you want to fall flat on your face with exhaustion, or nod off in the middle of an emotional New Year’s toast, you need to plan well in advance all that it takes to stay comfortable, feel healthy, look good and, perhaps most important, not throw up at the end of the night, walking home with smudged mascara or askew ties.

Be fashionably smart

“For NYE there is no such thing as too much bling,” says Saygin Yalcin, President and Founder of online fashion store Sukar. “This is the night where everything goes and you can rock that sequinned mini with a flashy blouse or you can even go for the extreme and wear that LBD [little black dress] with loads of accessories and a stunning flashy clutch.”

But, and in these cases there’s always a but, fashion has to work alongside compromise. Yalcin’s ultimate tip for an all-nighter without any style faux pas is to “carry a pair of flats/flip-flops in case those killer heels or suave gentlemanly shoes begin to torture your feet. There is nothing more unstylish than not being able to dance until the early morning”.

Travel-free night

Traffic always has been and always will be a bone of contention on New Year’s Eve.

Only plan to drive if you absolutely must. And plan well in that case. Bear in mind that you may have to get to your venue hours before the event so as not to miss it due to snaking traffic on the streets.

As far as possible, look for entertainment options within walking distance of your home. You will thank yourself for it later.

Kalyan, an event planner at Eventainment, advises that it’s okay to have to travel across town for New Year’s Eve parties as long as you remember to clock a few extra hours to your travel time when planning the night. “Reach the venue as early as necessary even if it means waiting outside closed doors for a few hours. It’s better than the alternative of spending New Year’s Eve stuck in your car.” More info

Hundreds of thousands were stranded in traffic last year due to half a million people descending on Downtown Dubai.

If you were among the hundreds of thousands who celebrated last year’s New Year Eve stranded in Dubai traffic thanks to the half a million people that Emaar reckons descended on Downtown Dubai to usher in the New Year, here’s some good news for you.

This year, Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has unveiled a master plan for the management of traffic and public transport means spanning the Dubai Metro (Burj Khalifa Station, Financial Center Station, Business Bay Station), public buses, and taxis during the New Year’s celebrations at Burj Khalifa area in order to streamline the traffic flow and ease the mobility of visitors to and from the event venue.

The plan entails making the Dubai Metro run round-the-clock on the day, and incudes the deployment of 63 buses and 4,000 taxicabs to transit up to 400,000 commuters to Burj Khalifa.

“The plan includes expanding the operational hours of the Dubai Metro into a non-stop service past the midnight of Sunday January 1 (24 hours) and increasing the service frequency to every 3 minutes in the stations from Al Rashidiya up to Ibn Battuta during the peak hours from after 12 midnight up to 5:30 in the morning,” Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the RTA, said in a statement. More info

DUBAI – The Dubai Airports fleet of the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) at the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), in cooperation with ‘BabyShop’, will be fitted with free child seats as part of the “Child Safety First” campaign.

The campaign, which runs for three months, aims at advancing the awareness of the importance of using child seats onboard taxis for the safety of children as well as the peace of mind of their family members during their daily travels.

Reports released by the Dubai Health Authority indicate that 63 per cent of crash victims in Dubai are children, which is three times the prevailing international rate of 22.3 per cent, and the RTA has opted to curb these exorbitant rates to bring them in line with its strategy and vision of providing Safe and Smooth Transport for All.

“Under this Campaign, the DTC has coordinated efforts of three affiliated departments such as the Resources and Support, Fleet Drivers Affairs and Fleet Operations as well as BabyShop where 50 child seats have been issued and fitted to 50 cabs deployed to the Dubai Airport with special emphasis on Ladies Taxi and Family Taxi services. Customers can order a cab fitted with a child seat when calling the Booking and Despatch Centre at the RTA Public Transport Agency at: 04-2080808,” said Yousef Al Ali, Acting CEO of Dubai Taxi Corporation.

Booklets have been published in English and Arabic, enhanced by the logos of DTC as well as Graco, the supplier of child seats to 
BabyShop.

They contain information about the safety and security of children on board, types of seats for the front seats, safety instructions on roads and how to fit these seats to the vehicle.

Booklets also include instructions about child safety indoor and outdoor, on board the vehicle, and on the public road along with key accessories needed to enhance the safety of children, and appropriate means of ensuring the child safety at home or outside, among others. These booklets were distributed at all BabyShop outlets across 
the UAE.

“This initiative is also being promoted through running ads on various taxis, besides that, last September the BabyShop provided training to cabdrivers on how to fix and install the child seat together with the child’s posture in the seat in order to uphold child’s safety,” said Al Ali. More info

The 12th edition of Dubai Airshow ended on Thursday by recording $63.3 billion (Dh232.3 billion) worth of orders for aircraft, maintenance services and flight training programmes, the organiser said.

In 2009, the on-site order book totalled $14 billion (Dh 51.4 billion) compared to more than $100 billion (Dh367 billion) registered at the show in 2007.

The airshow organiser F&E Aerspace said the visitor numbers broke the record with 56,548 people attending compared to 52,978 visitors in the previous edition, an increase of 6.7 per cent.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation and Chairman and CEO of Emirates airline and Group, announced on Wednesday that the next edition of the airshow will be held at the newly-built Dubai Aviation City at Dubai World Central in Jebel Ali. He said the government is pumping Dh1 billion to expedite completion of the venue. The investment will cover the relocation of the Dubai Airshow 2013 to Dubai World Central and start of the first phase of development of its aviation district.

The new venue of Dubai Airshow 2013 will encompass a larger area than the current facility and will consist of a grand reception building, two large exhibition halls, and static display areas, which will offer more space to accommodate additional aircraft.

Commenting on the just-concluded airshow, Alison Weller, Managing Director of F&E Aerospace, said: “We promised a Dubai Airshow that would be bigger and better than ever and we did not disappoint. The past week has been notable for its buoyant crowds, spectacular aerial displays and astonishing order announcements. As the show comes to an end, it will be time to take stock of the successes and the challenges, in preparation for Dubai Airshow 2013 at Dubai World Central!” More info

A Pakistani taxi driver allegedly molested a 14-year-old British student in front of his house in Burj Khalifa after dropping him off from his school, the Dubai Criminal Court heard.

The victim ALS testified that on September 20, he stopped a taxi after finishing school at 3.30pm, asking the driver to take him to his house in Burj Khalifa.

“On our way home, the driver put his hand on my shoulder and pulled me to him and then started talking but I did not understand what he was saying. On reaching the building, he stopped the vehicle and told me that friends in his country kiss each other and he kissed me on the cheeks. Then he told me that close friends in his country exchange kisses on the chin and he did the same to me.

Then he said they kiss on the lips and he did it to me and tried for force his tongue into my mouth. Then he gave me his mobile number, asking me to call him whenever I needed a taxi. As I got out of the car and took a photo of the taxi’s number plate. I went up and told my father’s girlfriend about what happened,” he testified. More info

Dubai: A shop attendant escaped unharmed after a taxi crashed into the Iranian Sweets shop where she was working on Tuesday evening.

* Image Credit: Lalani Shamsudin/Gulf News reader * A shop near Al Ghurair Centre, Deira, was wrecked as a taxi trying to avoid hitting another car crashed into the shop. A shop attendant escaped unhurt from the accident.

Eyewitnesses said the woman shop attendant was suffering from shock, and the taxi driver sustained a simple injury in the accident.

According to Dubai Police’s Traffic Department, the crash, which happened on Omar Bin Khattab Street at the junction opposite Ghurair Centre, was caused by a driver who took a U-turn where it was not allowed.

The taxi driver was driving on the opposite side of the road when a car entered the road unexpectedly, and in an attempt to avoid colliding with it, he ended up crashing into the shop. More