Taxis & TDs in the news/stomp
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6 Reasons The Taxi Population Has Fallen that Aren’t Grab or Uber
The taxi industry is in trouble. According to a recent report, the taxi population is the lowest it’s been in eight years. In fact, the taxi population has fallen every year since 2014, the year after Uber and Grab appeared on the scene.
Everyone knows Grab and Uber are the chief culprits, which has led directly or indirectly to calls to regulate car share services. Everything from requiring car share drivers to get a vocational licence to, most recently, imposing a miminum age on Grab and Uber drivershas been suggested.
But even if the Grab and Uber car supply gets drastically restricted, that doesn’t mean the taxi industry will ever see it’s pre-2014 heydays. The transport industry has been evolving over the years and is a far cry from what it used to be. Here are six other reasons taxi numbers have fallen.
1. Growing popularity of cycling and PMDs
Singaporeans have taken to PMDs such as kick scooters like fish to water, as a way of finding an alternative to paying for an expensive COE while avoiding long waits for buses and MRT breakdowns.
And the LTA, probably sensing that getting more Singaporeans into cycling and PMDs is a good way to reduce the number of complaints about MRT breakdowns, plans to install more bicycle parking spaces and has already extended indefinitely the scheme allowing foldable bikes and PMDs on public transport.
2. Rise of bike sharing
The future of bike-sharing looks bright. Despite some earlier hiccups, bike-sharing operators have been setting up stations in various neighbourhoods in Singapore.
Like PMD users, many bike sharing users use this mode of transport to get themselves to the nearest MRT station—a trip that no doubt some used to make by taxi, especially in areas with unreliable bus services.
The LTA intends to triple the number of people in Singapore using cycling as part of their daily commute, which will do the taxi industry no favours.
3. Enhanced MRT network
Remember the days when the MRT network consisted only of the red and green lines? Back then, relying on a combination of feeder buses and the MRT could take so long, people often had no choice but to hob into a cab in order to not have to spend their remaining years on public transport.
The MRT network today has grown considerably over the years, and will continue to do so in the next few years. With more people living within walking distance of an MRT station, that also means that fewer people would actually save time by taking a taxi.
4. Rise of flexi work and staggered hours
While the typical Singapore workplace is still far from flexible, many public sector employees now enjoy staggered hours. You also hear now and then of young people working in start-ups who get to work remotely or enjoy flexi hours. Then there’s the growing number of freelancers and gig workers who don’t need to show up at the office at 9am.
That also means fewer people will be faced with the urgency of having to rush to work in a cab because they woke up late.
5. Smaller family sizes and rising number of singles
Think it’s tough taking the MRT? Try doing so with a screaming kid clutching at your ankles. While a car tends to be regarded as a necessity for families with young children or elderly people, those who can’t afford one usually end up taking a cab.
Now that our birth rate has fallen to such a spectacularly low level, family sizes are much smaller than before, and more couples are not having children at all. That means the number of families who take taxis because it’s hard to handle their kids might fall, too.
6. Cab shortages
Despite the wake-up call that car share services have delivered to taxi drivers, cab shortages continue to be a big problem. You STILL get rejected by multiple cabs who all claim they’re “changing shift”.
If you need to wait one hour to get a cab home after work, there is little reason not to just take the MRT—or order a Grab or Uber.
What does this mean for the taxi industry?
Take a look at the reasons above. Most of them are actually positive for society at large. More people cycling and a more comprehensive MRT network can take pressure off the roads and ease traffic congestion, not to mention offer Singaporeans a cheaper and faster way to get around.
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GrabNow service to target street-hail market
After progressively rolling out ride-hailing services for private-hire cars, buses and vans, Grab is moving directly into the street-hail market with new service GrabNow.
Introduced yesterday, it allows passengers who flag a GrabTaxi to link their Grab apps with cabbies.
The 10-second process allows the metered fare to be paid with cash or GrabPay with no additional charges, and lets riders earn rewards, said GrabTaxi head Melvin Vu.
The link-up with cabbies is done through Google Nearby, which allows devices to interact within 30m of each other, or by keying in a six-digit passcode issued from the driver's app.
Participating GrabTaxi drivers can be identified by a special GrabNow decal.
Mr Vu said GrabNow was launched to win over the street-hail market, which makes up 70 to 75 per cent of the taxi rides here.
Calling the service an "attractive proposition for commuters to go cashless", he said: "With street hails, you don't get any perks. GrabNow allows whatever you spend on the taxi ride to be accrued."
Reward points on Grab's loyalty programme can be exchanged for such perks as discount codes.
Said Mr Vu: "It's really up to the customer, but we are trying to push GrabPay via GrabNow. This is in line with Singapore trying to push for a cashless society."
The feature is available in the Grab app for Android users now, and will be rolled out to iOS users by this week.
Recognising that taxi drivers prefer cash payments, Grab also launched an instant payout feature that allows drivers with POSB or DBS bank accounts to instantly transfer fares collected via GrabPay into their bank accounts.
Grab aims to roll out this feature to other local bank account holders in coming months.
Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) economist and senior lecturer Walter Theseira said commuters generally take the first street-hail taxi available as convenience is a priority.
"I doubt that the payment method itself is sufficient to convince most commuters to wait for another street-hail taxi," he said.
"Besides driving adoption of the Grab payment platform, I expect the other reason would be to get more data on commuter street-hail behaviour - that data is helpful for operations and strategy," he added.
SUSS lecturer Park Byung Joon, who specialises in urban transport, said Grab's business model draws inspiration from Chinese company Didi Chuxing, which ousted Uber from China's market with its private-hire car and taxi fleets.
"They may try to emulate what Didi did in China," he said.
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we have 5 or6 taxi companies but let one non-taxi company using technology to control the whole transport industrial?? humm it time for all the taxi companies to come out the same things and bring back customers. actually what comfort new apps are doing is one of the way all the taxi companies should do. try to merge public transport system and allow people freely transfer from one kind of transport to another.
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in singapore we still need uber as Grab is grabing too much in the market. Also if LTA can open up the yellow top taxi market, it will be a big game changers here.
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this is what competition is about
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From taxi uncle to Grab driver
When he started driving a taxi in 1981, Mr Lim Chwee Choon, then 36, often had to ask his passengers for directions and, at times, decline to take them if they were unsure of the route.
While such behaviour is unheard of today because of technologies such as Global Positioning System, Mr Lim said they had little choice back then. Vocational training was very basic and cabbies were taught only the routes to a few destinations, such as major hotels and the airport.
There were street directories but trying to page through one while driving was not a good idea, he said. Map apps did not exist then, he quipped.
Mr Lim, now 72, said it took him about three years of plying the streets and memorising routes before he could get around on his own.
"It was not easy but passengers were also more understanding," he recalled in Mandarin.
"Nowadays, if you take a route which they don't like, they will be unhappy. Passengers are always telling me, 'Uncle, my time is precious.'"
With more than three decades of driving under his belt, this "taxi uncle" has seen the changes in one of Singapore's most iconic professions, which began in the 1930s, and is facing its greatest disruption now with competition from ride-hailing apps.
Mr Lim himself has jumped "ship".
Last year, he became a Grab driver, trading in his taxi for a Toyota Altis private-hire car.
Asked about the animosity between taxis and private-hire cars, Mr Lim said: "Everyone has their own views. For me, I prefer to take calls. As you know, very few people are hailing taxis from the street now. Taxis still have advantages, such as being able to queue at the airport. There's no right or wrong way."
Looking back, Mr Lim said he got into the taxi trade because work was hard to come by.
"I wasn't the type who was good at studying and studied up to only Secondary 3. Times were also not very good then," he recounted.
On the economic front, much of the Western world experienced a recession between 1973 and 1975 and, in Singapore, labour-intensive industries also saw a decline, as the nation evolved towards higher-value manufacturing, such as in electronics, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Mr Lim bounced between various menial odd jobs in the 1970s, working in a power station and a chemical factory, and as a parking attendant.
"I remember my eyes watering because of the ammonia fumes at the factory, and I lasted only two days," he said.
Wages were meagre too, he said - about $8 a day at the power station, for example.
A career change was in order. But getting into the taxi trade was not easy because of the limited number of cabs then, Mr Lim recalled.
The NTUC Comfort taxi cooperative - which later become ComfortDelGro - had a fleet of just 5,000 in 1980.
There was a wait-list which reports said swelled to about 2,400 applicants in 1986.
The other major players were yellow-top cabs, which were individually licensed.
In the 1960s, they numbered about 3,800 but, a decade later, the Government stopped giving out taxi licences to individuals. In comparison, there are 26,000 taxis run by five companies here today.
Mr Lim started out by being a relief driver for his older brother Chwee Poh, who operated a Nissan Cedric cab under NTUC Comfort.
"If you were willing to work hard, you could make about $30 a day. But you had to keep driving around to find customers," he said, adding that only the more well-to-do commuters took taxis.
With NTUC Comfort, there was also the opportunity to eventually own the taxi - an arrangement which Mr Lim said was preferable to the present renter-hirer model.
Under the cooperative's Vehicle Ownership Scheme, cabbies could collect a new cab by making a deposit of $500.
The taxi driver would then pay NTUC Comfort a weekly amount to cover the vehicle rental fees, administrative costs and insurance coverage. After about four years, the cabbies would become proud owners of their vehicles. The taxis would last these drivers seven years before they had to be scrapped.
Mr Lim said he could not remember how much the weekly fee was, but reports at that time said it was around $160. The ownership scheme, however, was phased out when NTUC Comfort became corporatised in 1993.
From the 1990s, Mr Lim became a hirer, renting taxis from CityCab, Trans-Cab and SMRT at different stages of his career.
In 2014, he was introduced by a fellow cabby to the GrabTaxi app, later renamed as Grab.
"I needed help to download the app into my mobile phone but, after being shown the steps, I found it quite easy to use. With the app, I do not have to drive about to find passengers, so it's less tiring," he added.
NOT THAT HARD
I needed help to download the app into my mobile phone but, after being shown the steps, I found it quite easy to use. With the app, I do not have to drive about to find passengers, so it's less tiring.
MR LIM CHWEE CHOON, on his first encounter with Grab.
He said he could pick up as many as 10 GrabTaxi bookings a day.
But the bonanza was short-lived, Mr Lim said, as demand from customers shifted from taxis to private-hire cars.
In 2015, Grab launched GrabCar, joining Uber in offering privately chauffeured cars which were cheaper than cabs.
Going with the flow, he made the move to Grab last year.
Looking back, Mr Lim said he has had "no regrets" being in the taxi industry as it helped raise his family, with two daughters born in 1988 and 1989.
He declined to talk about his wife, whom he divorced in 2013.
Mr Lim turned 72 on Aug 9, which is also Singapore's National Day. Asked if this held any meaning for him, Mr Lim said no.
Until this year, he had never taken a day off on his birthday.
"I still have to drive to cover my daily rental fees," he said.
"But this year, I took a break.
"My daughters took me out for a meal," he added with a smile.
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 17, 2017, with the headline 'From taxi uncle to Grab driver'.
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ComfortDelgro introduces Alipay option for its taxis http://str.sg/4rqb
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Taxi catches fire in KPE tunnel
A Transcab taxi caught fire in the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) tunnel on Tuesday (Aug 29) night, causing smoke to fill the tunnel.
Pictures posted on social media show a red cab on fire, while other videos show smoke in the tunnel.
The Land Transport Authority in a tweet at 7.20pm advised motorists to avoid lane four due to an accident on the KPE, towards the TPE, after the East Coast Park entrance.
The Straits Times understands that the fire has been put out and there are no injuries reported so far.
Witnesses say there were announcements asking drivers to leave their cars and exit the tunnels. Some drivers managed to reverse out, but cars were not stopped from entering the tunnel.
"I saw a lot of smoke but couldn't see what was on fire. There was an announcement asking people to leave the tunnel," said hotelier Doreen Lim, 52, who was in a taxi heading to Sengkang at about 7.25pm.
Her cab left the tunnel by the Upper Paya Lebar exit.
Housewife Ong Soh Ching told The Straits Times that she entered the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) at about 7.30pm.
"From Maxwell towards ECP, there was already a sign that said there was an accident after Port Road," she said. "But there was no warning to say please do not enter MCE."
She said there were flashing blue lights and radio signals appeared to have been jammed in the tunnel.
Instead, a message was being broadcast asking drivers to abandon their cars and look for the nearest exit.
A video she shared shows a broadcast of an LTA announcement saying: "This is an LTA emergency announcement. Drive out of the tunnel now via the nearest exit. If unable, turn off your engine and walk to the nearest emergency exit with a bluish-white flashing light."
Ms Soh, who exited at Fort Road, did not see the cab on fire but said there was a smell like burning rubber.
"I don't think anyone abandoned their cars," she added.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force in a Facebook post at 7.52pm said it is attending to a vehicle fire in the KPE tunnel, towards TPE, before the Pan-Island Expressway exit.
"The fire has been extinguished. There are no reported injuries," it said.
Buses on SBS Transit bus service 30 were diverted before the Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE), the bus operator tweeted at 8.11pm.
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Grab offers huge rental discounts in bid to poach ComfortDelGro cabbies
Amid signs of rising competition, Grab has sent out a message to ComfortDelGro cabbies offering significant rental discounts to those willing to switch to a rival taxi fleet that partners the ride sharing company.
The move comes two weeks after ComfortDelgro, Singapore's largest taxi operator with nearly 16,000 taxis under its Comfort and CityCab brands, announced that it was exploring a "potential strategic alliance" with Uber.
ComfortDelGro has not joined Grab's ride hailing platform, while other taxi operators like TransCab, Prime, SMRT, and Premier have done so.
A Grab spokesperson confirmed on Monday (Sept 4) that a text message had been sent out to ComfortDelGro taxi drivers on Sunday night (Sept 3).
The message read: “Dear Comfort Cabbie, huge rental discount deals from Sept 4 to 15.
"S$50 rental discount per day, if you switch your taxi rental over to any of our taxi-fleet partners (TransCab, Prime, SMRT, Premier). No targets. No questions asked."
The S$50 discount is about 40 per cent off the average S$118 per day rental that ComfortDelGro taxi drivers pay for models like the Hyundai Elantra and the Toyota Vios.
The message from Grab also offered a “S$1688 rental discount per month” if drivers switched over to a private-hire car at GrabRentals or Grab’s exclusive fleet partners. The drivers, however, have to hit a target of 20 trips per week to qualify for this incentive.
who going over?
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Uber Is Enemy Of Taxi Companies. Uber Provide Taxi services on cash and its also costly but in my opnion mostly taxi companies are cheap and use credit card taxi. thats the main reason people like still taxi services.
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huh?!?!?!?!
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TransCab crashes into back of Comfort cab at Airport Boulevard
A TransCab taxi crashed into the rear of a ComfortDelGro taxi today (Sept 11) at around 12.30am, along Airport Boulevard.
Stomper Tang, a cabby, was driving past the vicinity and witnessed the accident.
He quickly snapped some photos and sent them to Stomp.
In the photos, the rear wheels of the ComfortDelGro taxi were lifted off the road and its boot was wide open.
The TransCab taxi, on the other hand, suffered major damage on its bonnet, with its hood crumpled by the impact.
Its front bumper had also fallen off.
Tang told Stomp that he did not see any injured victims at the scene.
Stomp has contacted the Police for an official statement on the accident.
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Who's right, who's wrong? Cabby and passenger argue over whose route to take for flat fare ride
A taxi driver and his passenger got into a heated argument after they both had their choice of preferred route.
It is unclear when and where exactly the incident occurred, though a video of the dispute was posted on the Singapore Taxi Driver Facebook group.
In the video, the Comfort taxi driver can be heard relating his situation to a third person on the phone.
The driver had apparently wanted to take an alternative route to avoid a traffic jam on the Central Expressway (CTE), but the passenger insisted on his chosen route.
Hence, the cabby wanted to drop the passenger off "at the side of nowhere", the passenger can be heard saying.
It was mentioned in the conversation that this was a ride with a flat fare too.
Cabby's perspective:
"You go by the driver's way, not the passenger's way."
"He [the passenger] does not want to go my way, so I have to drop him."
Passenger's perspective:
"The passenger has a choice too, you know."
"I am paying for this [ride] and I have the right to refuse [your route]. You go by my way."
Netizens' comments:
"Flat rate of cos driver's way, but if it is by [the] meter, then follow passenger's way."
"Normally, for flat fares, the driver will go by the fastest way."
"Of course, taxi driver is right. No choosing of route for flat fare riders."
"To know that it is a flat fare and being told there is a traffic jam on the CTE, and yet insist on going that route is to deliberately make things difficult for the taxi uncle."
"Both need to go for good education courses."
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Cabby and Grab driver hurl vulgarities at each other
A video of a Grab driver and a cabby engaged in an expletive-laden shouting match has been circulating online.
Stomper Edros alerted Stomp to the video, which All Singapore Stuff also uploaded on Facebook.
According to the video caption, the dispute occurred at Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal though its cause cannot be ascertained.
In the clip, the two men hurled vulgarities at each other.
When one of them was about to leave in his taxi, which had the Grab decal on it, the other guy said, "Why? No strength already ah?"
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64-year-old cabby sent to hospital after accident with garbage truck at Jurong West
A 64-year-old male taxi was sent to the hospital after an accident with a garbage truck along Jurong West Street 75, towards Jurong West Street 81, today morning (Sep 29).
Responding to media queries by Stomp, the police said they were alerted to the accident at 10.36am.
The cabby was unconscious when sent to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
Stomper Ravin was at the accident site at around 1pm and said he only saw a taxi there.
A video that he filmed shows the TransCab taxi attached to a tow truck.
A police car and a police bike were also at the scene.
Police investigations are ongoing.
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Part-time SMRT cabbies locked out of taxis in server glitch
Part-time SMRT taxi drivers were locked out of their vehicles early Monday morning (Oct 30) in a three-hour server glitch on the transport operator’s short-term taxi rental service portal, SMRT Taxi Share.
Rolled out in January by SMRT, the service requires taxi drivers to prebook a taxi, head to the pick-up point closest to them, and get on taxishare.com.sg to indicate that they would like to “Start Trip” — a button that would only be enabled past the starting time of their booking — before their cars would be unlocked.
But drivers who went through their usual routine on Monday morning were met with an irresponsive ‘Start Trip’ button, although they were able to access the Taxi Share website.
Those attempting to end their rental reportedly faced problems doing so. Late charges are S$10 for every 15 minutes or part thereof.
In response to TODAY’s queries, SMRT taxi services’ general manager, Mr Shaun Lee, said: “Our Taxi Partners support team is aware of the temporary server glitch this morning, and has been reaching out to the handful of affected taxi partners. We will honour our taxi partners’ requests for refund upon verification.”
Eight drivers took their frustration to a Taxi Share Facebook group after having troubles reaching SMRT on its hotline. The earliest post was made at 4.30am. The system was restored shortly after 7am, according to a Taxi Share user who managed to unlock his car at 7.05am.
“I can’t unlock the car since 6am, and now (it’s) 7am. The clock (started) ticking. Please refund,” said Facebook user Lester Tan who was supposed to get on the Toyota Prius he rented from 6am to 2pm.
Another driver Leslie Chang posted: “I waited (for an) hour (but I) still can’t contact (the) SMRT officer. Can I cancel to get (a) refund from SMRT?”
Another Facebook user with the handle of Will Iam said he tried calling SMRT’s customer service hotline, but he was left waiting for at least 20 minutes.
“SMRT, if your system breaks down, please message or email to all drivers,” he wrote in his post.
A 43-year-old driver who only wanted to known as Alvin decided not to work after he stood outside his taxi for half an hour from 6am with little clue why his car would not unlock.
“So no income today... (The Taxi Share system for the) whole (of) Singapore is down, same as their trains,” he told TODAY, adding that the SMRT has promised a refund of his S$68 10-hour rental.
“It has happened to me twice so far (in seven months).”
SMRT’s Taxi Share scheme allows those with a taxi driving vocational license to rent taxis in three-hourly blocks by picking up and returning the taxi at a location that is convenient to them.
So far, SMRT is the only taxi operator adopting such a model where taxi drivers do not have to seek a relief driver to cover the cost of a rented vehicle should they not wish to commit full-time.
Hourly rental varies across the day between S$6.80 and S$S$12.80.
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Uber driver jailed for 5 weeks for attacking cabby, fined $1,000 for shouting vulgarities at hotel staff http://str.sg/4tA8
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Taxi drivers refuse to pick up passengers, leaving hotel porter in tears from guests' scoldings
Stomper Sylvia is frustrated that taxi drivers are able to pick and choose their passengers, leaving hotel porters to bear the brunt of the scoldings from other hotel guests.
The Stomper was at Fairmont Hotel for dinner on 10 Nov. She was trying to get a taxi to Ang Mo Kio.
However, each taxi that came refused to take her after giving an 'excuse' to the hotel porter.
She wrote:
"Passengers behind me, foreigners were also so angry and scolded the bell-hop. The bell-hop was in tears and I tried to defend him but to no avail."
In a telephone interview with Stomp, Sylvia elaborated, "Perhaps the bell hop shouldn't ask the taxi drivers where they wanted to go."
She also told Stomp that the hotel porter was scolded very badly by a guest in the queue last week because the taxi drivers refused to pick up passengers.
According to the Stomper, the hotel porter told her that 'it feels like I don't know how to do my job'.
Sylvia later approached another taxi and the taxi driver rolled down his window to ask her where she was going.
According to the Stomper, the taxi driver declined as he said he was there to fetch some staff home. When he was questioned about the taxi sign which was lit up, he replied, "I turn it off now" and drove away.
She eventually used Grab to book a ride to Ang Mo Kio.
"I am very pissed off about the situation. One then wonder, why people are taking Grab and Uber more often than normal taxis."
"It was not just one driver's behaviour, but a whole string of them. Perhaps the authorities could go down and check this out for themselves," added the Stomper.
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Multi-taxi collision at Resorts World Sentosa
SINGAPORE: At least four taxis were involved in what appeared to be a collision at one of the car parks at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) on Monday (Dec 4).
The moments after the incident involving the taxis from ComfortDelgro and SMRT was captured on a video which has been circulating online.
Responding to Channel NewsAsia, ComfortDelGro group corporate communications officer Tammy Tan said: "We are in touch with our cabbies and are reaching out to other cabbies who were involved in this incident to assist them as best as we can.
SMRT, meanwhile, said it is assisting in investigations.
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“We are providing our taxi partners with support and are thankful that no passengers were on board," said Mr Patrick Nathan, vice president of corporate communications.
Source: CNA/hs -
Taxi crashes into power supply box in Bukit Merah
SINGAPORE: A taxi crashed into a power supply box at the junction of Hoy Fatt Road and Jalan Rumah Tinggi in Bukit Merah on Monday (Dec 11) morning.
The police said they were alerted to the accident at 10.15am.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the taxi had crashed into a parking gantry before knocking down the power supply box.
The driver, a man in his 50s, suffered minor injuries but did not want to be taken to hospital.A passerby, Mr Gary Haris, said he was driving from Hoy Fatt Road towards Jalan Rumah Tinggi when he saw the aftermath of the accident at around 1pm.
He said that the road was closed by traffic police while the taxi, a yellow CityCab, was being towed away.
Comfort DelGro, which owns CityCab, said it is assisting with police investigations.
"We are in touch with our cabby who was uninjured in the incident. We are also relieved that there were no passengers at the point of the incident, and no one else was injured," said Ms Tammy Tan, Comfort DelGro's group corporate communications officer.
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Cabby at Changi Airport allegedly rejects passenger going to Tampines, says he 'wants' downtown
When you have just landed at Changi Airport in the wee hours of the night, all you want is a quick and smooth ride home.
Unfortunately for Stomper Angelina, who was at Terminal 1 at 1.30am on Monday (Dec 18), she encountered a taxi driver whom she said was "in the taxi queue and selecting customers".
Angelina told Stomp: "As I approached the vehicle, he rested his entire body on the trunk and asked for my destination.
"When I said I was going to Tampines, he immediately declined to take me and said he wanted to go downtown.
"I promptly approached the airport's taxi coordinator and she chased the cabby out of the queue. However, he simply joined the next line.
"Is this what our service has become? Are drivers allowed to choose customers at the airport? Should we just blacklist everyone staying in the east?
"I'm very disappointed with this experience, especially after observing how nice drivers are overseas. I spent three days in Hong Kong and everyone there is nothing but polite and nice, regardless of the distance.
"This is what our service has become. What a shame."
Have you ever had a similar experience? What do you think about taxi drivers choosing their customers?
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New taxi stand opens at Changi Airport Terminal 1
SINGAPORE: If you have been travelling this holiday season, you may have noticed a new taxi stand in operation at Changi Airport's Terminal 1.
Located at basement one, the taxi stand opened on Tuesday (Dec 19) and replaces the old facility at the terminal's first floor arrival hall.
The move is part of the Terminal 1 expansion and is in preparation for the opening of Jewel Changi Airport in 2019, which will be directly linked to the terminal.
Passengers Channel NewsAsia spoke to noted the new taxi stand is slightly further away, but said it was not difficult to find.
"All the way there're a lot of signs," said 36-year-old Kai Ng, who was catching a cab from the new taxi stand. "I mean, our opinion is that it's so easy to find your way around here."
"Location wise it is quite good. I think the design is very nice, comfortable. Looking forward to taking more taxis here," said 25-year-old Ian Goh, another taxi commuter.
There are 21 taxi bays available at the new facility and a new taxi dispatch system is being used.
Through sensors and other algorithms, the system is designed to dispatch an appropriate number of taxis from the holding area to meet demand at the Terminal 1 taxi stand.
It also prompts drivers to the clusters where there are passengers.
Chang Airport Group (CAG) said this has automated some of the job processes of its roadway managers.
The system was first trialed at the airport’s Terminal 3 in July, before being implemented there as well.
CAG added that development works at Terminal 1 are about 60 per cent complete. Passengers can expect a more spacious arrival and baggage claim hall, as well as a revamped departure hall.
In early 2018, the new Terminal 1 arrival pick-up facility at the first basement will also be ready. Currently, the pick-up area is located at level one.
Other new ground transport facilities expected include the new Terminal 1 and Jewel carpark and coach stand.
Source: CNA/aa
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ComfortDelGro to launch dynamic pricing fare option for its taxis from Jan 19
Singapore's largest taxi operator ComfortDelGro will launch a dynamic pricing system for its 13,600 cabs from Jan 19.
For customers, this means that fares for Comfort and CityCab taxis could be lower than the metered rates during off-peak hours, but also surge during periods of high demand.
The dynamic pricing option for ComfortDelGro taxis will be offered through the Uber app and a new UberFlash function. The service dispatches the nearest ComfortDelGro taxi or Uber private-hire car to the user who requests a ride.
The move to pool the supply of ComfortDelGro taxis and Uber cars on a common platform follows an alliance between the two companies announced last month.
The deal, which is still under review by the Competition Commission of Singapore, will see ComfortDelGro acquiring a 51 per cent stake in Uber's rental car subsidiary, Lion City Holdings.
According to a newspaper notice put up by ComfortDelGro on Thursday (Jan 11), UberFlash charges a base fare of $3, with a per kilometre rate of 45 cents.
In comparison, the metered rates for ComfortDelGro taxis are higher, with a base fare of between $3.20 and $3.90, and a distance charge that works out to 55 cents a kilometre for the first 10km, and 63 cents per kilometre thereafter.
However, UberFlash fares fluctuate according to demand. Commuters have lamented that fares can be two to three times more during peak periods, or when there are MRT disruptions.
ComfortDelGro customers can still go by the meter for street-hailed cabs and taxis booked via ComfortDelGro's booking hotline or company app.
Like other Uber products, UberFlash will levy a fee if passengers are late in meeting their drivers or if they cancel their bookings.
A 20-cent per minute charge will apply if drivers wait longer than three minutes at the pick-up location. Customers who cancel their bookings after five minutes will be charged $6.
There are no such penalties for customers who book ComfortDelGro taxis via the phone booking system or on ComfortDelGro's booking app.
An Uber spokesman said on Thursday that the company will share more details of UberFlash later on.
He said: "We are excited about our partnership with ComfortDelGro to improve the overall transportation landscape, giving Singapore more choices to move around at the tap of a button."
Following ComfortDelGro's tie-up with Uber, all 23,000 taxis in Singapore will offer a dynamic pricing option.
Since March last year, close to 10,000 taxis from the five other taxi firms - SMRT, Trans-Cab, Premier, Prime and HDT Singapore Taxi - have started offering dynamic pricing, if rides are booked through the Grab app.
Singapore University of Social Sciences transport researcher Walter Theseira said that with all cabs now offering dynamic pricing, it is likely that the average taxi fare paid during peak hours will go up, but commuters should benefit from shorter waiting times.
But whether commuters will have to fork out more than what a regular taxi charges, with peak-hour surcharges and levies thrown in, boils down to the day’s demand and supply, he added.
“If it’s a rainy day and the Singapore Grand Prix season, for example, we can be certain that fares will be higher, but on another day, when the weather is good and everyone takes public transport, fares could be lower,” Professor Theseira said.
While metered fares offer transparency to commuters, the algorithms used by ride-hailing apps in dynamic pricing do not.
Prof Theseira said: “To protect consumers, regulations will have to evolve, to perhaps stipulate some limits on dynamic pricing, or require companies to provide some back-end justification to the price surges.”
National Taxi Association executive adviser Ang Hin Kee said that under the dynamic pricing system, taxi operators need to ensure that cabbies’ takings are not adversely affected.
Mr Ang said: “If the taxi rental rates are high, and fares are low, drivers may feel it’s a bad deal and not want to do the Uber jobs. The difference between UberFlash fares and the metered rates may need to be topped up through incentives or subsidised with lower rentals.”
