RTA to procure 554 hybrid taxis in push to cut pollution

DUBAI / WAM

The Board of Executive Directors of the Roads and Transport
Authority (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 percent of the fleet of the Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC). The move is part of a master plan to curb pollution from exhausts and make vehicles friendly to the environment of Dubai. By the end of this year, the DTC’s target is to beef-up the proportion of hybrid vehicles to 17 percent 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 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 the RTA’s commitment to the master plan calling for curbing carbon emissions from the taxi sector by 2 percent as required by the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and the Green Economy initiative,” said Mattar Al Tayer, Director-General and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of the RTA.
“The underlying objective of using hybrid vehicles operation is to support Dubai’s initiative themed ‘Green Vehicles for a Cleaner Environment,’ besides assessing the feasibility of using hybrid vehicles in the Dubai Taxi fleet. The RTA is the first government entity in the region to experiment with the operation of hybrid taxicabs fitted with electric-fuel engines in Dubai taxi from 2008 to 2011. Results of the experiment revealed that such vehicles had covered 550,000 kilometres without faults or requiring maintenance of major parts. Fuel efficiency reached 30 percent and carbon emission dropped by 30 percent as well,” explained Al Tayer.
The RTA had endorsed a plan for converting 50 percent of Dubai taxicabs into hybrid vehicles by 2021. The move is part of a plan to fulfil the requirements of the Dubai Supreme Council of Energy and the Green Economy drive. The plan anticipated a rise in the number of hybrid vehicles in Dubai from 147 in 2015 to 791 in 2016, and a further jump to 1,582 by 2017.
It forecasts an increase in the number of hybrid taxis to 2,375 by 2018, 3,167 by 2019, 3,959 by 2020, and to as much as 4,750 vehicles by 2021. The DTC is set to have the largest share of hybrid taxis in Dubai totalling 2,280 vehicles.