Dubai: Taxis in Dubai are being equipped with new smart meters that will add more safety and efficiency to taxi operations in the emirate, the Roads and Transport Authority announced (RTA) on Tuesday.

Being installed at a cost of Dh68.8 million, 4,850 taxis have already been equipped with the new meters and by the end of this year, 3,000 more taxis will have the upgrade.

As he inspected the installation process at some of the taxis recently, Mattar Al Tayer, director-general and chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of RTA, said that the entire fleet of 10,550 taxis will have the new meters installed by June 2018.

Among the key features of the new meters is the integration with Dubai Geographic Addressing System (Makani), which enables taxi drivers and passengers to locate their destinations accurately through the Makani unique identification numbers that are allotted to every building in Dubai.

The meters also automatically add toll tariff (Salik) to the taxi bills whenever the taxi passes through toll gates, without the intervention of the cab driver. In the old system, taxi drivers had to manually add Salik charges every time the taxi passes through the toll gates.

The taxi drivers are also in for a relief as the new meter will facilitate display of ‘Out of Service’ screen giving drivers a 90-minute flexible break per shift.

It can also display ‘End of Shift’ screen to ensure that the taxi driver will not be hailed within the last 45 minutes of the shift to facilitate the handing over of the vehicle.

The meter is also linked with optical sensors to detect the boarding of a customer, switching on the meter automatically.

The system can also be linked with POS devices to enable smooth payment and has a safety system to monitor the speed of cabs on internal and external streets.