DUBAI: The Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) announced at a press conference yesterday that carpooling is now legal in the United Arab Emirates, a move that officials hope might offer some relief to the country’s traffic woes.
The RTA launched a carpooling website, “Sharikni” (“Share with me”), where motorists can register and make carpooling arrangements.
Although widely practiced across Dubai and Abu Dhabi, carpooling had been illegal in the UAE and offenders can be fined up to AED5,000 if caught.
In both cities, motorists have complained about being unfairly fined for allegedly running illegal taxi services when they were giving colleagues lifts to work.
“The RTA has plans to launch a number of strategic initiatives to solve the problem of traffic jams. One of these initiatives is ‘Sharikni,’ which we are launching now after extensive field studies,” said Abdulaziz Malik, CEO of Dubai Taxi Agency and acting CEO of the Public Transport Agency.
Among other findings, one study determined that the average number of persons per vehicle was 1.6, and the RTA would like to see that number increase in order to reduce the amount of traffic in the already choked arteries of Dubai.
The initiative will allow two or more commuters from the same workplace or adjacent workplaces to carpool, which could diminish the number of private vehicles on roads and increase parking availability.
Mohammed bin Fahd, acting director of Planning and Business Development at the Public Transport Agency, said the initiative would also help reduce pollution-causing emissions from cars.
The ban on carpooling was implemented in an attempt to control the problem of gypsy cab drivers, people in noncommercial vehicles working illegally as informal cab drivers. A similar law is in place in Saudi Arabia.
