Dubai’s five-year plan aims to transform the entire taxi fleet into fully eco-friendly vehicles by 2027.
Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) endorsed a five-year plan (2023-2027) that targets to switch all taxis in the city to 100 percent eco-friendly vehicles by 2027. All the taxis will be transformed to hybrid, electric, or hydrogen-powered under this plan.
The five-year plan is aligned with the goal of making Dubai’s public transportation reach emission-free by 2050.
According to RTA, the transport regulator has transformed 72 percent of Dubai’s taxis into environment-friendly vehicles It comprises a total of 8,221 hybrid vehicles out of the 11,380 taxis on Dubai’s roads at the end of 2022.
The experiments of this transformation began in 2008 with the goal of building a sustainable city where energy usage is optimized. The Dubai Taxi Corporation (DTC) boasts the largest fleet of eco-friendly vehicles with hybrid vehicles accounting for over 34 percent.
Hybrid vehicles bring the prospect of largely reduce carbon emissions, fuel consumption, and maintenance costs while significantly decrease noise levels. Dubai’s initial plan of transforming 50 percent of its taxi fleet into eco-friendly has produced a remarkable reduction in carbon emissions by as much as 420,000 tonnes annually, equivalent to 70,000 tonnes per year. This has stimulated local automotive companies to roll out a range of hybrid vehicles tailored for the Gulf region.
RTA’s figures showed that Dubai taxis made 105 million trips last year, covering a total of more than two billion kilometers.
