1 August 2004
SHARJAH - Sharjah Transport Corporation yesterday unveiled a plan to introduce a mass transport system in the emirate, as part of its strategy aimed at providing decent transportation means to the general public at affordable prices.
Rahma Majid Al Shamsi, Assistant Director-General of Sharjah Transport, told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview that a Singaporean specialist company was assigned to study the project with regard to the routes and charges. 'The company will submit its comprehensive report and vision for the mass transport system in November this year,' Mr Al Shamsi said.
Sharjah Transport launched recently a taxi service that was franchised to two companies namely City Taxi and Emirates Taxi, with each of them operating 80 cars in the beginning to increase to 100 by the end of current month and to 750 each by the end of the year.
Mr Al Shamsi disclosed that a third company would start operations within two months. The new company with the name of Al Khaleej will be run by a group of businessmen who will be legally liable for any losses of profits.
Sharjah government's new ambitious franchised taxi scheme that will replace the private owned taxi service has been met with mixed feelings across the public board. Some look upon the move as a necessary transition to a sophisticated way of life they wish to brag of on par with other civilised nations, while others see it as a disruption of the fabric of their already modest means. So far a limited number of metered-vehicles are now seen commuting on Sharjah's streets, since a large number of new vehicles are not in use due to the lack of drivers.
Mr Al Shamsi attributed the shortage of drivers to the Sharjah Transport requirement that they should be holders of at least one-year-old driving licence.
'But we discovered that the number of drivers who have licences issued a year ago was limited, the reason why we reduced the requirement to a minimum of six months,' he explained.
The general public complained about the high taxi fares, which start with Dh2 for pick-up during morning and Dh3 from 10pm to 6am, in addition to Dh1 per each kilometre, about the difficulty of sharing as an option and the lack of public transport. The officials defended the service and tabled their plans to promote transportation services in the emirate.
P.S.M. Habibulla, City Taxi joint Managing Director, said: 'We charge less inside Sharjah than the private taxi though our fares are slightly more to distant areas, since we provide quality service. But people with low-income can in future use buses since Sharjah will start public bus services within six months' time, and we have already applied to Sharjah Transport to partake therein. In that area we have a 20 year experience in Bahrain.'
Elaborating on the advantages of franchised taxis he added: 'Private companies have no system to guide their haphazard operations whereas Franchised taxis follow a system. On our part, we are guided by rules and regulations stipulated by the Sharjah Transport to which we have paid money in guarantee which we can lose if we violate the rules. In order to control the state of affairs in the taxi service, the government should impose harsh measures on passenger smuggling, and curb the illicit activities of invading taxis from a neighbouring emirate.'
By Amira Agharib
© Khaleej Times 2004
