By Elsa Baxter www.arabianbusiness.com
A new five-boat water taxi service in Dubai will be launched on Wednesday, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced.
The service works like a regular car taxi service where a customer calls up to request a boat pick them up at one of 18 different locations around the emirate, including Dubai Creek, the Atlantis hotel and Dubai Marina.
The service will be on demand from 10am until 10pm, Mattar Al Tayer, RTA chairman of and executive director said.
He said the service can also be booked for tourist trips, starting at AED400 per hour. Regular journeys start at AED50 for one stop going up to AED570 for a trip between the two farthest stations of Dubai Festival City and the Jebel Ali Hotel and Spa, Al Tayer said.
“The number of locations will increase by adding new ones in the next period such as Meridian Mina Seyahi Hotel and Royal Mirage Hotel,” Al Tayer said.
Water taxi boats are made of carbon and are fitted out with airline Business Class seats, each with an LCD screen in the reverse and a tray table.
Each boat is 11m long and 4m wide, can travel up to 35 knots, and can seat up to 11 passengers as well as the captain, the statement said.
Customers should call 8009090 to book a water taxi.
Full list of water taxi stations
Al Mamzar, Deira Old Souq, Al Sabkha, Bani Yas, Dubai Festival City, Al Shindagha, Bur Dubai, Al Fheidi, Al Seef, Dubai Creek Park (A,B), Al Boom Tourist Village, Open Jumeirah Beach, Jumeirah Beach Park, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai Marina, Jebel Ali Hotel and Spa, Atlantis Hotel.
