Taxi woes: Reduce surcharges, raise fares

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Oct 22, 2007

Taxi woes: Reduce surcharges, raise fares
LATELY, there was quite some coverage in The Straits Times (articles as well as readers' letters) about Singapore's taxi situation.
The problems mentioned are not new, but they are 'uniquely Singapore'.
I have travelled to many countries, from well developed to less developed ones, but none seems so helpless at getting a proper taxi system organised. As Singapore plans to aggressively increase its population, improvements are really called for.
This cannot be very difficult and I think the answer lies in simplicity. The current system is too complex with so many surcharges, which gives cabbies a lot of room for abuse. Some suggestions:

• Abolish all time-based surcharges and implement one standard flag-fall and kilometre rate 24-7, including weekends and public holidays; and
• Increase standard fares and booking charges to cover the resulting loss of revenue.
  Another issue quite unique to Singapore is the quality of cabbies.

I use taxis on average twice a day when in town (and when I manage to get one), but often I wonder how some drivers obtain a taxi licence.
Many would fail a standard driving test in other countries, but here they are allowed to drive a taxi.
Most notable, apart from little knowledge of the city and ignoring traffic rules, is their bad handling of a manual car. Why not give them automatic ones so they have one task less to worry about?
Stefan Erich Hirt
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_169177.html