What’s On announces a new far system for taxis in Dubai, for both flag-down and pre-booked taxis. Find out about the new prices for taxis.

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Taking taxis in Dubai will be more expensive from December 1 after the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) approved a hike in the starting rate.

Meters currently start at Dhs3 across town (Dhs20 from the airport) for hail-and-ride. However, from next week that price will be increased during peak hours by Dhs2, to Dhs5, while those booked in advance will see the same increase.

“The modification of flag-down rates was intended to leverage the service on offer to the public by deploying as many taxicabs as possible and ensuring that the service reaches out to customers in a timely manner, especially during morning and evening peak hours,” the RTA Public Transport Agency said.

Morning peak hours are considered 7am to 10am throughout the week, and 4pm to 8pm between Saturday and Wednesday, or until midnight on Thursday and Friday.

“It is worth mentioning that the taxi fare applicable in Dubai is the cheapest among some of the world’s most developed cities, such as London, New York, Amsterdam, Paris, Singapore, Tokyo and other metropolises”, the RTA added.

The price increase comes not long after an additional levy was placed on metro fares, seeing prices hiked by up to 66 per cent, depending on the zones and class, but also at a time when Dubai Marina is benefiting from an improved public transport structure following the launch of the Dubai Tram.

“To maintain the transport sustainability and to build world-class transport infrastructure thus ensuring the provision of world-class standards in the city, fares are revised accordingly,” the RTA said at the time.

Since being rolled out to the public earlier this month the Tram has been largely successful. Traffic issues still blight certain roads around the route, but drivers have found the adaptation to an additional mode of transport quite straightforward.