Recently, discussion had been on taxi woes in Singapore. Passengers & cabbies both offer solutions to resolve this issue but the authority tend to maintain silence on this. This problem is uniquely Singapore and can only get worse.
What amaze me is none of the readers understand the whole picture and it really sadden me how naïve Singaporean can be. Remember this: Comfort = TH = LTA = PAP. They fail to realize that Comfort is owned by TH and they made an annual profit of about $240 million by renting out taxis.
Why must they change the business model so that you can get a taxi easily and hurt their profit? Their solution is either keep quiet or raise the fare. Their point of view is that there is a taxi booking system. If you choose to hail a cab by the road, it means that you have no urgency to get one. If use the booking system but no cab is available, there is always the limousine cab. Like the PAP, Comfort is profit driven, not customer service driven. When did the PAP ever shown concern to Singaporeans?
Next, the Chinese paper reported that due to the Taxi availability standard, now 80% of the cab is running on 2 shifts to meet the standard. But don’t be fooled – 2 shift system also mean more “Changing Shift” cab during peak hours. Previously, about 35% of the cab is running on a one-man-operation (OMO). The single shift system is good in the sense that the hirer can take a break during low demand hour and reduce the “Changing Shift” issue. But with ever increasing rent and more cabs, he spends longer hours on the road and will never have the stamina to continue to the evening. That is the reason he has to get a second driver.
So stop accusing drivers as picky or passengers as demanding. We are victims of this blood sucking leech scheme. As a part-time relief cabby and a frequent cab user, I fully agree that the taxi system sucks. The change will only come when you do your part in 2016.
Conned Care