RTA Launches Smart Taxi Service, Smooth Transit Apps In Gitex 2013
H.E. Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA), has announced a new package of smart services provided to clients via smart-phones, enabling customers to process several transactions through their smart-phones without obliging them to visit customer service centers. The move comes in implementation of the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, in migrating from the e-Government to the smart Government platform, offering services via mobile phones 24/7.
"Among the key services to be unleashed by the RTA in Gitex 2013 is the smart taxi service, as the latest, highly innovative smart application considered the first of its type enabling clients to book taxis and directly track their path until their arrival in a real time exercise. The application has a set of unique features and characteristics unprecedented in the Middle East, enabling the residents, tourists and visitors of Dubai Emirate using the taxi booking service the possibility of booking a taxi by a single click of a button at any time and from any location. This could have been made available thanks to a user-friendly, super flexible smart phone app. This new app (smart taxi) covering all taxicabs in Dubai (more than 8500 taxicabs), tantamount to a smart communication channel that is extremely simple, yet compatible with modern technologies tailored to service the needs and expectations of various segments of the community. Moreover, the new app makes the booking of a taxicab a new experience punctuated with luxury and excellence provided to all people in the Emirate of Dubai," said Al Tayer.
"Through one of its excellent characteristics, the smart taxi app can automatically pick up the address and identify the location of the passenger; which helps the public using the service to identify the address without needing to write details and data that is in many cases difficult to write for the elderly and new comers to Dubai or even those who experience vehicle breakdown in an unfamiliar place. All of these peoples need not to worry now as the latest technologies have been harnessed to serve their needs. The smart taxi app has exceeded the touch-screen stage to just flipping the phone up or down; which will be enough to establish the details and location of the booking, and the cab nearest to the location will be booked and directed to the customer.
"The smart services packages the RTA intends to launch in Gitex 2013 includes the launch of version 3 of RTA app compatible with smart phones enabling the offering of new services to customers including the payment of traffic fines, recharging of Nol cards, Geo Tagging for Madinati service, and RTA services directory. This app is bilingual (A/E) and is offered at Apple Store or Google Play. The Exhibition will also see the launch of Wojahati app which is compatible with smart phones, enabling public transport users to plan their journeys from a specific point to another using various public transport means, besides knowing the arrival timings of various transport means. The 2nd edition of the app will provide the service of computing the fare of the journey. The app will first be provided in English and the Arabic language will be provided in the second version intended to be released in November this year.
"Among the new services to be launched also is the smart Nol service, the first of its kind in the Middle East, enabling smart phone users to use their phones as a Nol card for paying public transport fares (metro, buses and water taxi). To develop this service, the RTA has been engaged in cooperation with Etisalat and Du in order to realize the objectives of this service through issuing a Near Filed Connection (NFC) sim card enabling customers to utilize it in using some types of phones which are fitted with this technology whereby the phone is swiped over sensors fitted in the entry gates leading to public transit means. Moreover, the RTA will also launch the e-Wallet service which is a prepaid account to be used in payments for RTA services and the service enables companies to save their funds in this wallet as a new means for paying for RTA services instead of using cash or credit cards.
"Taxi users will also have a new wave of new services such as the smart touch screens fitted in the Dubai Taxi Corporation’s cabs, and the possibility of using Nol cards and credit cards for paying taxi fares in addition to the Hala Taxi meter enabling users to view the details and image of the driver as well as the details of the vehicle," added Al Tayer.
Emirate: Dubai
Date: Oct 19, 2013
Back