Taxi woes: Reduce surcharges, raise fares

Home > ST Forum > Story
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

Overcharged by cabbies twice in a week

Home > ST Forum > Online Story
Oct 18, 2007
Overcharged by cabbies twice in a week
ON OCT 6, I took a Comfort taxi from Marina Bay outside Superbowl Country Club to Tagore Avenue.
The driver told me that he would use the PIE and pass by Yio Chu Kang. The fare was $24.60, including peak hour surcharge.
But just last week, around the same time and at the same location, the journey in a Transcab taxi cost me less than $15, including peak hour surcharge.
I called Comfort to lodge a complaint. The following week, somebody called me to say that the driver had been given a warning. I was slightly appeased.
But to my dismay, on Oct 16 at 6.19pm, I boarded a Comfort cab - this time, I was going from Tagore Ave to Compassvale Crescent Block 295A.
The driver used a route unfamiliar to me, so I asked him whether he knew the way. He assured me that he knew the place and told me it was a short cut.
Upon reaching somewhere near the Layar LRT station, he asked me if I knew the way. How could he claim earlier that he knew where he was going? Eventually, after circling around the area for a while, he reached the destination.
The total fare was $10.80, including peak-hour surcharge. The same journey previously cost me only $8.
Yes, two cabs can get to the same place in the end but what consumers are looking for is a cheaper and faster journey to our destination.
Warning the drivers is one thing, but we have already been overcharged.
Chen Zhenzuan (Miss)
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST+Forum/Online+Story/STIStory_167944.html