I got a press release from the Roads and Transport Authority in Dubai a couple of days back that pissed me off. It’s about a new device that’s being installed in their taxi cabs to help reduce accidents:
Once the taxi reaches a speed of 60km/hour, sensors fitted to the front and rear of the car are activated. If the taxi enters within the safety zone of the vehicle in front, a safety message will be sent to the taxi’s speaker inside the car. Similarly, if a vehicle approaching a taxi breaches the safety zone, they will receive a message through their own radio. This safety message will tell the driver to back away from the vehicle in front and to remember to keep a safe distance as it could be carrying a friend or loved one,” [Link]
The press release pissed me off because it’s frustrating to keep seeing how much more advanced Dubai is getting while we can’t even get our cab drivers to use a simple device like a taximeter. I would personally use cabs more often and I’m sure other people would do if it didn’t mean we would have to haggle for every ride.
41 replies on “Our Taxis Suck”
Comparing Dubai to Kuwait is like comparing France to Nigeria.
Really? https://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/dubai-rape-vic-arrested-drinking-article-1.1214682
Yes really.
No, not really https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/dubai/7468251/Flirty-text-messages-lands-couple-in-Dubai-jail.html
^Delusional.
You do realize that those articles are from 2010 and 2012? Things have changed a lot if you haven’t noticed, lol.
In 2013, a raped Norwegian woman was jailed.
This happened in 2014 https://7daysindubai.com/expat-faces-death-stoning-admitting-court-cheating-husband
Oh, is that why so much more tourists want to come to Kuwait instead of Dubai? ^Still Delusional
Underneath all that glitter and frivolity lies a legal system that is years behind Kuwait. Unfortunately, most people are too intellectually shallow to notice the hypocrisy of Dubai’s marketed image and the truth.
+1
That’s being up to date on new technology and they have designated areas for taxis to pick up people and I am 100% sure their taxis don’t stop in the middle of the road stalking people like they do here.
Yes they do.
No they don’t! I take taxis all the time here in AD. Metered taxis, Clean taxis, Taxi Drivers that are courteous……need I go on?
Five years of being stalked in Kuwait was quite enough!
Just in the morning over breakfast, i was talling to a friend of mine. How Kuwait was, and its a big WAS, a pioneer in getting all the progressive ideas in the region. And what has it come to be.
I am sure many will agree.
Sadly true.
Dubai continues to improve while Kuwait seems to move backwards. If Kuwait wants to reduce traffic and reduce the number of drivers why don’t they invest in providing some reasonable alternatives to driving? (good taxi service, nice and reliable public transportation, car pooling). Until people have an option they will continue to drive (with or without licenses unfortunately)
Kuwait is so fixated on the issue of driving licenses that they fail to come up with any other solutions. How many times have the regulations on driving license eligibility and cost changed in just the past 18 months? Its embarrassing.
It’s not about being fixated on something, just the lack of initiative for real solutions.
Taxi in Kuwait is overpriced and impractical for everyday use. Some other countries I don’t mind taking a taxi everyday.
Very true! Some Taxi’s charge 2.5KD for a small distance, other Taxi’s for the SAME distance charge 1KD.
My advice is used a taxi only if you NEED to!
No point in installing these devices in Kuwait since tailgating is normal here.
Instead there should be an indicator or some light that turns on with horns blaring the moment you go over the speed limit or tailgate etc and the only way to turn it off would be to go to the cops.
But then again there would be some bangali or indian guy down Zena street hacking these devices for 20kdz
*sigh*
That’s a racist comment, from someone who believes that problem and solution lies somewhere else.
Some decline and some develop…………
I agree completely Mark. But what Kuwait really needs is an extensive rail system under and above ground.
Forget this device… it would be great if the majority (not just taxis) started using their indicators.
+1
atleast the very basic meter should be there in taxi’s running in kuwait.
in dubai a person first enters the taxi then tells the location where he have to go.
It’s not going to work in Kuwait. In Dubai all taxis and public transport comes under the jurisdiction of the RTA and they control everything to ensure that you get good service. All taxis drivers speak more than one language and they don’t argue on taxi fares.
In Kuwait, you have thousands of sponsors who hire ex-cons and criminals to drive taxis and they pay the sponsor around 7 KD a day and the rest of the earnings is for the drivers to keep. Who in their right mind is going to give up this system and lose all that money?
Let me start of by saying that I LOVE Kuwait, probably more than many Kuwaitis do. That said, when speaking of Taxis and Progress in the Gulf I believe that people do not look at the whole picture. Dubai does not have a more progressive and modern system because it has strict Taxi regulation or allows alcohol and night clubs. It is because they lack a Parlaimant o Congress to impede the progress as it has in Kuwait. They do not have a small group if people who have been selected due to their lies and popularity to stall that progress and modernization of this country. Instead they have rulers who take the helm of their Emirate and steer it to a brighter future. I believe that Kuwait can once again be the Pearl of the Gulf if the people changed themselves. If you want to change something it is good to start with yourself.
Dubai is a nice place for a brief vacation where you get to see all these wonderful thing. It’s not a place that I would settle in. It’s a dry and artificial. It doesn’t have a “soul”.
and as if Kuwait had a soul!
It has. It is Kuwait’s people.
^comedian
I agree 100% with you
Mark I have been taking taxis for several years and you are right its not a great system. However when it comes to taxi meters, people in Kuwait seem to have all the wrong information. The present Taxi meters have not been updated in line with rising prices (inflation) which means that on some routes, taking a public bus and taking a taxi would amount to around the same charge. This means that theoretically a taxi could actually end a day of work and not make any profit at all. For those of us who have lived in Kuwait for a long time and taken taxis, the rates are well known. Newer people or western people and perhaps kuwaitis are likely to be fleeced a bit, but hey, its like progressive taxation. In most cases of racism in kuwait, like salary, those same people come out on top while asians come out on the bottom. So personally I have no problem with SOME things being in our favour.
At any rate, taxis are not too bad if you already know the rates and dont have to engage in bargaining. Of course if the relevant ministry actually updates the meter rates to be FAIR and upto date, that would be ideal and serve everyone in kuwait equally. But hey, that, like most things, is a problem with the system.
Can we take a moment to acknowledge how unclean most Taxis are? Its really hard to find a Taxi that’s clean enough to sit on, because most of them have some questionable stains on the seats
🙁
A couple of months back I took a taxi and it was brand new. Turned out the guy had just bought it two weeks ago, it was a Nissan Sunny and it had a grey interior!
I don’t understand why everyone loves beige so much, grey interiors are so much more pleasant.
Yesterday I took a Taxi from Bneid Al-Gar to my home. I asked the Taxi to turn the METER ON but when he told me 1 KD I immediately agreed without further arguments. From my house to Bneid Al-Gar I paid 2.5 KD. GRRRRRRRR some Taxi’s are RIP-OFF :@
Paying 1KD is a good deal as opposed to 2.5 KD, despite traveling the same distance so I agreed without even having second thoughts 🙂
This is easy. Especially for those vehicles equipped with sensors e.g Reverse Sensors and Parrking Sensors. Those sensors are just rigged with both the odometer and an additional audible sound that triggers when those mentioned on his blog are breached. Kuwait can do it, but with the way I see it as, it’s not that innovative. It’s applicable to Dubai since that city’s land mass is incomparable to Kuwait. It also wouldn’t help much since the major highways that we have are limited. I don’t consider traffic either and majority of the roads, thanks to be brilliant form of construction, are straight that only thing you’d consider are those running faster than you.
Kuwait can definitely do it! And this is coming from an Expat who was born, raised, educated and is now serving Kuwait! 🙂 Dubai, they say is better, but there will never be any place like home.. A home I call Kuwait! 🙂
The most imp thing is these cab guys must wear the uniform at all times and they should fix one uniform for all of them like Dubai. that way we feel more safer as many times I noticed it is not their cab that they drive or they are not cab drivers ! I could be wrong on this but I feel it is a must on the uniform and the company needs to check the cleanliness too, some cabs are filthy with bugs and their sweat smell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Taxi in Kuwait are cheaper than Dubai by ALOT
Taxis in Dubai are lot more expensive than Kuwait. and don’t even get me started on traffic & Tool Tax Salik here.
Kuwait is million times better place to live