The next few days will see many of us attending parties as Dubai’s residents prepare to welcome in the New Year.  Holidays and weekends are always busy and subsequently booking a taxi maybe frustrating.  Even if you’re organised and book a taxi early in the day there is no guarantee it will actually appear!  But there are alternatives to the normal RTA taxis.

There are companies such as Careem and Uber which have satellite mapping systems which enable these companies to see at any time where their available cars are and to match them to a customer request.

Customers must first register on-line with their credit cards and download the app to their mobile devices.

This allows the customer to order a car through the mobile  app.  The customer is then told accurately how long it will be until a car can reach them. They are then sent an email with the drivers details so that they can call them at any time. With the technology used by these companies the customer can  track their ride and driver in real-time, pay with a credit card and access receipts on-line.

However, in competition to this the RTA has now introduced ‘Smart Taxi‘ their very own app which you can use to order a RTA taxi.

Another very reliable alternative to taxis is driving your own car to your social engagement and arranging for a driver to drive you and your car home.  From my experience this is a great service and the drivers are always excellent and very courteous.  The cost of this service is approximately AED 90 which, dependent of where you live can equate to about the same price as a taxi there and back. Companies that offer this service in Dubai include Buddys Designated Drivers, Safe Driver, Care Driver,  and The Driver .