End of the road for private cars
Dear Sir,
I see privately-owned cars becoming obsolete soon. Their place would be taken by first-class taxis whose charges will be affordable to all.
Qatar could take an initiative on this. Let us have a taxi service that this nation could be proud of and be the envy of other nations in the region.
To achieve this, a pre-requisite would be to have drivers who are fluent in both Arabic and English, or at least far more Arab-speaking taxi drivers than those from the rest of the world. They would have to be polite and be smartly dressed. They would have to pass a test, not only for their driving skills but also for their knowledge of Qatar.
At the moment in Doha we have two taxi systems: on the one hand, some rather costly limousines and on the other, ordinary cabs with cheaper rates. The ordinary taxis are, for the most part, not particularly attractive. The limousines need to be pre-booked; hopefully this may improve.
An attractive taxi must be clean and comfortable; it has a separation between the driver and the passenger, and plenty of leg space for the passenger with easy access. A taxi rider does not want to listen to drivers talking on their own mobile phones or to have to endure their choice of music played on the car radio.
Passengers, for the most part, would like peace and quiet, a time to reflect, time to read Gulf Times perhaps.
London and many other Western cities now have an excellent system of getting a taxi. It is called Hailo. I believe that out of the 24,000 black taxis in London 7,000 taxis are signed up for Hailo. The Hailo system also operates in New York, Chicago, Barcelona, Boston, Madrid, Tokyo and Dublin. Why should Qatar be left behind? The system works like this: you simply download a Hailo App onto your mobile phone, press a few buttons and presto, a cab is with you in just two minutes, every time, day or night 24/7. The driver locates where you are by GPS, sends an SMS message to you with his name and phone number. If you type into your phone your destination, you need not even talk to the driver, they start the charging meter only from when you get into the taxi and you can pay cash or account; the bill arrives on your e-mail as you step out of the taxi - an instant limousine service at an affordable price.
I am not a transport specialist; just an ordinary citizen looking for a more comfortable and efficient life, hoping that though your letter pages, one might make some small changes.
Let us hope that someone in Doha adopts this extremely popular system and buys new and appropriate taxis. Private cars are becoming a thing of the past. A wise man should possibly be buying private cars as collectors and putting them away; soon you will only see them in a museum along with the Dinosaur models. I have just sold my car in London as it has become obsolete.
Michael Franses. [email protected]
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