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Dubai video: How RTA honoured its 'hero' taxi drivers

Dubai - The initiative is meant to honour the drivers as heroes in the city’s fight against Covid.

The Roads and Transport Authority has revealed a novel initiative to honour Dubai’s taxi drivers as heroes who kept the city moving during the Covid pandemic.

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In a touching video posted to their social media, the RTA announced that it had previously launched a trial phase of an initiative that replaced the iconic yellow ‘TAXI’ sign on top of Dubai cabs with the names of drivers.

The initiative aims to honour drivers by giving them a sense of personal identity.

“A lot of customers ask me a lot of questions," said one driver in the video. "But they never ask my name."

"They talk about the weather, food and Dubai,” said another. “Now they know who they’re talking to.”

The initiative helped establish a personal connection between drivers and their passengers. Passengers in the video can be seen thanking their cabbies for the ride and addressing them by name.

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“I used to think that ‘Taxi’ was just another means of transport. Today, I met Ibrahim,” said one passenger, speaking about how the move helped passengers see the person behind the wheel.

The video encouraged passengers around the city to get to know the drivers and share their stories with the hashtag “WhosYourCabbie".