Sunrise over MBZ

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Abu Dhabi National Day

No One Likes the New Taxis

It seems like the residents of Abu Dhabi have the same reaction to the new taxis that I did:

Residents in the Capital are dissatisfied with the new taxi services that were launched a few months ago.

While speaking to several commuters, Khaleej Times found out the reasons for their disappointment. Most of those spoken to were unanimous in their views that the taxis’ fares had doubled, registering an increase of 100 per cent compared to the old taxis.

I agree wholeheartedly. It is interesting to note that some of the people interviewed said that they are now walking as much as 4 kilometers because they cannot afford the new fares. So you have to think that this decision could quite easily increase the pedestrian accident rate, especially as the roads here a very unfriendly for pedestrians, not to mention the potential for heatstroke when the temperatures increase.

In response to these complaints and demands, Lieutenant-Colonel Mohammed Maiouf Al Kotbi, manager of drivers’ licensing and vehicles in the General Headquarters of Abu Dhabi Police, said the decision of the new taxi services came as a result of the demands and requests of the Abu Dhabi residents, as they frequently complained about the behaviour of many of the old taxi drivers. "We received so many complaints from people that the drivers of the old taxis refused to stop for passengers or that they refused to drive outside the city centre or in crowded areas," said Lt-Col. Al Kotbi.

"For these reasons people demanded a new taxi system and the Abu Dhabi Police responded by launching the new taxi service, which aims to solve the problems," he added.

Lt-Col. Al Kotbi also pointed out that the new taxi project allows for more confidence between passengers and drivers, who are trained to be cooperative and friendly. "The problem of doubling the taxi fare is unacceptable and the passengers are entitled to get a receipt for the payment and, in case of increasing the fairs, they should come to the police," he said.

As I pointed out before, the new taxis are also charging by the hour, which seems, in my limited experience, when combined with the increased milage rate, to be the cause the doubling.

I'm not sure exactly why the two systems cannot run together either; if one wants to pay extra for a cleaner car with a more courteous driver, great. But for those who cannot, why get rid of the older system? For that matter, why make us change in Al Ain for problems that we were not having? I have never had or heard of a driver refusing a fare to anywhere in Al Ain. Has anyone ever that this experience?

I Guess It Depends on Who You Ask

We, in theory, live in the Information Age. But how good is the information that we are being given? Take these seriously conflicting statistics about accidents during Eid, all taken from the police, reported in the three main English language papers:

Khaleej Times:

During the Eid Al Adha holidays, more than 500 traffic accidents were reported in the emirate of Dubai, resulting in injuries to several people. However, no casualty was reported.

(I assume from the context that the author meant "no fatalities" and not "no casualty", since injured people are casualties.)

7Days:

In Dubai, officers said there had been 65 accidents, with four people left dead and 46 injured - some seriously - over the three days.

Gulf News:

Two people were killed and several others were injured in traffic accidents during Eid holidays in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

7Days:

In Al Ain, eight people died and 39 injured in crashes...

So, in Dubai, the death toll was either zero or four. In both Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, the death toll was two, or in Al Ain alone the death toll was eight.

Road Trip to Abu Dhabi

I went back to Abu Dhabi yesterday to do some shopping and sight seeing, here are some photos I took and some thoughts:

This is the highway between Al Ain and Abu Dhabi:


The highway is equal or better than the Interstates back in the US. It is very smooth, three lanes the whole way, with lots of gas stations/stores and rest areas.


The scenery is a little boring (mostly just sand dunes), but there are palm trees planted along the entire way and the road is lighted all the way.




The speed limit is 120 kph (about 75 mph) the whole way, so the trip only takes a lit more than an hour.


The signs are, of course in Arabic and English, and pretty much like the ones in the US:


I love this sign for the phrasing (and it is good advice)


But some show what happens when you hang out with Brits too much (just kidding)



Abu Dhabi is on an island, and just across the bridge that takes you onto the island is this huge mosque, still under construction. It is the Sheik Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque.

You can see the mosque from a satellite here.

This is the headquarters of Etisalat, the national phone company. Etisalat has a monopoly on all forms of phone service and internet access. The sphere on top is on top of all the Etisalat buildings, which is why some call it the Big Golfs.


This is the some of the skyline from the Corniche, which runs along the Arabian Gulf side of the island.

Abu Dhabi

I went to Abu Dhabi on Sunday with a friend to visit a friend of his who was leaving for America. This was my first trip to Abu Dhabi, and I only was there about six hours or so (just long enough to pick up the friend, go to the Marina Mall, go out to eat and run a few errands), but here are my thoughts on it.

Good golly humidity is awful! Everytime I walked out of a building or got out of the car my glasses immediately steamed over and I couldn't see. I don't know how everyone takes it there.

But even though it is a big city too, like Dubai, it seemed much more appealing. To be fair, I should say that I'm not a fan of big cities, so that might be coloring my opinion. Also being in Dubai on Thursday is probably not the same as being in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. But Abu Dhabi didn't seem out of control like Dubai did. It also had more green spaces. In some ways it felt like a very large Al Ain.

Here are some photos I took while there:

These were at the mall






This was on the Corniche





These were when we were driving around