How are things getting more expensive?
I've heard that a number of things are being considered like levying a higher tax on the second car, etc, but nothing like that in this article either.
Car ownership: No more easy ride
Owning a car in Dubai will become a more costly affair under new rules that are currently on the table, a top official of the Roads and Transport Authority said yesterday.
"There is much dependence on private cars [in Dubai]. Certain legislations will increase the cost of having a private car," said Abdul Reda Al Hassan, Director of Planning and Development at the RTA, during the ongoing Middle East Rail Conference 2008. He did not elaborate on the nature of the legislations.
The announcement is the latest in a series of deterrents for car ownership in Dubai. Last month, two new toll gates started charging drivers here, doubling the number of the Salik gates.
The RTA has repeatedly asked motorists to switch from private to public transport, which it believes will solve Dubai’s traffic jams. However, only seven per cent of the estimated 1.6 million residents use public transport, according to research cited last July by the Public Transport Agency (PTA), an RTA body.
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Instead, commuters depend heavily on approximately a million private vehicles registered in Dubai. There are 1.6 passengers per vehicle in Dubai, according to Mohammad Bin Fahad, Director of Planning and Business Development at the PTA.
Also, mass transit – in the form of the Dubai Metro project – is not due to open until September 2009. While the road toll is Dh4 per crossing, the Metro ticket is speculated to be under Dh10. Al Hassan said the price would be announced in two months.
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