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wishmaster · Feb 04, 2009

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Traffic_and_Transport/10281760.html

The city's carpooling service is not being fully utilised by residents because not many people are willing to share their cars, Gulf News has learnt.

Despite the Dubai Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) launching a carpooling service in August last year, the number of people willing to share their cars has been very low. However, the number of passengers who want to share others' cars has been quite high.

"We launched the car pooling service called 'Sharekni' to encourage people to share their cars with others in a bid to provide a cheap alternative option to commute between home and the workplace. And now it is up to the people to avail themselves of the opportunity," said Mohammad Abubakar Al Hashimi, Acting Director of Planning and Business Department at the Public Transport Agency of the RTA.

Responding to a report saying that strict RTA regulations were deterring people from using the carpooling service, he said: "In fact, the RTA is very flexible in issuing permits for carpooling. The procedure is very simple if you qualify for carpooling," he said, adding the whole procedure for getting a permit for carpooling is based on an online system.

So far 10,679 people have registered online. Out of them some 3,353 people have activated the service completing all the procedures to use it.

But the problem is that out of a total 3,353 people, there are 770 drivers who want to share their cars and 2,583 passengers who are looking for car owners to share their cars.

Many of them also do not find matches with others because of different routes and timings.

"We encourage more people to register as the higher the number of people we have the higher the chance of getting a match to share a car," Al Hashimi added.

A total of 200 permits have been issued so far with 800 people sharing cars, meaning there that are 800 less cars on the roads.

Al Hashimi clarified that friends, colleagues and relatives do not require carpooling permits to travel in one car.

"The carpooling service is for people who do not know each other but want to share cars with others. The service provides them protection and ensures safe travel and discourages illegal taxi services," he added.

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The Carpooling Service Is For People Who Do Not Know Each

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