Driving licences issued by Royal Oman Police double in a decade

Muscat: During the last decade the number of driving licences issued by the Royal Oman Police (ROP) has almost doubled.
According to the latest facts and figures released by the ROP and the Directorate General of Traffic, 1,425,581 licences were issued to residents in the Sultanate in 2016, up from 718,697 in 2007. There are a number of reasons for this, said experts in Oman.
“In Oman, it is now becoming increasingly uncommon to see a single income family,” said Ramanuj Venkatesh, assistant manager (Accounts) for Larsen and Toubro.
“In addition to the men who go out to work, an increasing number of women are also joining the workforce, not just to supplement their husbands’ incomes, but to carve out a career for themselves.”
“Earlier, the sort of work opportunities in Oman may not have been conducive to them, but as the Sultanate’s economy continued to diversify, particularly in sectors, such as banking, tourism, entertainment etc, there are an increasing number of employment avenues for people to pick from.
“Also, it is important to note that incomes in Oman increased substantially from 2007 to 2016, and this has led to increased personal spending from people,” he added.
Independent
“One of the things people spent on was an additional automobile for the family, so that the wife wasn’t just dependent on the husband for transportation, with public amenities for transport not having the best coverage across the country as well.
“The increase in Oman’s population over the last 10 years, coupled with the need for people to be more independent, is the driving cause behind the increase in the number of licences.”
According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information, Oman’s population at the end of December 2016 was 4,549,655, up from 2,593,750 in 2007.
This is another major contributor to the steep rise in the number of driving licences issued.
“About 10 years ago, it was not common to see students, housewives, etc come to us to learn driving,” said the operator of a driving school in Muscat.
“But these days, the moment locals turn 17, both young men and women come to us to sign up for driving lessons, because they realise how important mobility is these days. Attitudes are changing and these young people want to be independent. Also, because of an increase in salary levels, most houses now have two cars, so that means there are at least two members in a family, who have driving licences.
“Housewives too want to be independent, and with good reason: the husband may be at work and it therefore falls on the wife to take care of the children,” he added.
“This means taking them to various activities, taking the children to meet their friends, dropping them off at school, or even in case of an emergency. I think this is very good, because it means she is not dependent on her husband as the only method of reliable transport. Plus, you have so many women working today, and they’d rather have their own vehicles than sign up for company transport because this also gives them an additional level of flexibility.”
In keeping with the increased number of vehicles on the road—1,387,139 at the end of March 2017, according to official statistics—the number of vehicles inspected has also increased, up from 339,695 in 2007 to 723,045 last year.