UAE resident shelled out Dh70,000 on 1,900 taxi trips in a year

Latest Careem user trends reveal another customer spent Dh80,000 on 1,100 food orders

One person spent Dh2,000 on a 723km round trip from The Greens in Dubai to Al Dhannah City in Abu Dhabi. Bloomberg

Did you ever stop to count how many taxis you took in the past 12 months?

Chances are the final figure will be a lot lower than one UAE resident who made just under 1,900 journeys with Careem in 2022.

That was one of the trends that the ride-hailing and food delivery company discovered over the course of the past year.

A company report showed another customer made almost 1,100 food orders through the Careem Food app in the UAE, spending more than Dh80,000.

Mudassir Sheikha, chief executive and co-founder of Careem, said it was an exciting year for the company.

“We celebrated our 10th birthday, hit the monumental milestone of one billion rides and supported the success of Expo 2020 Dubai and the Fifa World Cup in Qatar,” he said.

His comments came as the company revealed the behavioural trends of its customers over 2022.

The UAE resident who clocked up almost 1,900 rides with Careem spent just under Dh70,000 ($19,000) in the process.

UAE's longest taxi trip

The longest ride that was hailed with the company saw one resident making a 723km round trip from The Links East Tower in The Greens, Dubai, to Shuweihat Power Complex in Al Dhannah City, Abu Dhabi. This set him back Dh2,000.

The most active Careem driver — or captain as the company calls them — made more than 6,100 journeys.

Regionally, the most trips taken in the GCC were by one customer in Qatar who made 2,480 journeys in Careem cars in 2022, including 17 trips in one day.

The most popular city-to-city route last year in the GCC was from Dubai to Sharjah.

There were more than 24,000 trips made to stadiums in Qatar for the World Cup, with the company introducing inter-country journeys from Saudi Arabia to Doha for the tournament.

The most popular food order from Careem was the McDonald’s double cheeseburger, followed by KFC’s super dinner meal.

The most popular restaurant in the UAE and Jordan was McDonald’s while the top choice in Saudi Arabia was Al Baik.

However, the company did notice a 47 per cent increase in healthy food orders compared with 2021 across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.

Dubai taxis see a surge in passengers — in pictures

Dubai taxis have recorded a surge in the number of passengers. All photos: Antonie Robertson / The National

Numbers were boosted during the World Cup and winter season as tourists rush to the UAE

Flagging a taxi from the side of the road is reportedly becoming increasingly difficult

During peak travel times, it's rare to find a taxi sitting idle

Booking has become essential to avoid long waiting times for a taxi