Yousef Al Madani, Director of Transport Systems Department at the Public Transport Agency said a satellite surveillance system will be in place to help manage the fleet.

“Taxi service is a subject of a rising demand triggered by the urban development and demographic expansion in Dubai. The existing taxi fleet includes more than 8,000 vehicles owned by Dubai Taxi Agency and a host of franchise companies.

“The fleet, which is expected to grow to 10,000 vehicles by the end of this year, will come under satellite,” the official said.

The upgrading process will boost the efficiency of the fleet and enhance the level of services and also step up safety standards and driver satisfaction, the official said.

He said the Agency had booked more than 5.2 million trips from 7.4 million calls in 2008.  “The Agency is keen on providing comfortable and luxurious taxi services to passengers, thereby boosting the confidence level between the Agency and its clients who are continuously on the rise.

“The rate of responding to customer calls has shown a remarkable improvement hitting 27 seconds in the first quarter of last year and vehicles reached customers in an average of 14 minutes,” the official said.

He said that the taxis, more than three-years-old, were being replaced. 

“These vehicles are being checked and replaced with new vehicles equipped with the latest technologies in order to boost customer satisfaction,” said Al Madani.

He said the agency recently started an upgraded version on the prevailing system used at the Booking and Despatch Center with an enhanced and sophisticated version at a cost of Dh10 million.

“The upgrading process will boost the efficiency of the fleet and enhance the internal communication with the manager of the centre with the driver, introduce the online booking feature, and ensure integrated Wi-Fi technology with the aim of improving the electronic and digital link-up process,” he said.