Taxis cruising streets looking for customers to be banned

HAZARDOUS DRIVING: In their eagerness to beat rival drivers to a customer, taxis often cause accidents on Saudi roads.

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Transport plans to gradually reduce the number of taxis cruising around in Saudi cities starting in Moharram.
It did not specify a deadline for completely stopping them from cruising in the Kingdom’s cities.
“The Ministry of Transport plans to gradually reduce the pointless cruising of taxis inside cities starting in Moharram,” Turki Al-Toaimi, official spokesman for the ministry, told a local publication. He noted that there was no specific deadline for a final ban on taxis running in the cities.
“There is still coordination for allocating stations for taxis in commercial markets and public places inside cities,” he said.
He pointed out that the ministry had stopped granting new taxi licenses due to the enormous increase in the number of taxis operating in Riyadh and Jeddah. The ministry has also stopped licensed establishments from adding new cars except for replacing old ones.
He added that the launch of Wasel electronic platform aimed to regulate taxi services for transporting passengers and for consumer protection. Drivers will be checked regularly and there will be mechanisms for stopping cruising taxis.
Wasel also aims to find out where there is a big demand for taxis and so create stations in those areas.