Taxi fares set to rise in Abu Dhabi

Fares for silver cabs will rise significantly from May 1, as part of changes designed to streamline pricing and provide a world class service, a senior TransAD official said yesterday. Daytime starting fares will increase by 17 per cent to Dh3.50 from Dh3, while the per-kilometre rate will rise by 12 per cent, to Dh1.6 from Dh1.33. Long-distance travellers will pay Dh1.60 per kilometre for the first 50km and Dh1.69 per kilometre thereafter. Pensioners and people with special needs will be entitled to half-price travel, subsidised by the government. Passengers will still pay 50 fils per minute for waits of more than five minutes. Mohammad Hussain Al Hosani, director of TransAD Franchise and Licensing, the Government taxi regulator, listed a number of reasons for the fare adjustments. "The new tariffs are designed to meet changing trends in the demand for taxis, customer safety, service enhancements, drivers' working hours and wages and financial stability of the service provided." Passengers travelling at night will pay a minimum fare of Dh10 for any journey that otherwise costs less than this amount. "We want drivers to provide a service 24 hours a day, so at night we have a different rate to make it more attractive for drivers to work at night, taking into account the fact that 85 per cent of passengers use taxis at day time," Al Hosani said. Daytime rates are in effect from 6am to 10pm, with night rates applying at all other times.