New taxi operator gets licence
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Channel NewsAsia - Thursday, August 2
New taxi operator gets licence
SINGAPORE : The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has granted a Taxi Operator Licence to Prime Car Rental & Taxi Services.
The company, established in August 1996, applied to LTA for a licence in May this year.
The licence allows the company to operate taxi services and will be valid for 10 years from the date of issue.
As a new entrant, the taxi company will be given up to four years to build up its taxi fleet size to a minimum of 400 taxis, starting with 100 by the end of the first year.
With the latest addition, there are now eight taxi companies in Singapore. - CNA /ls -
peak hours or nearing midnight surcharge rate.... all the taxis will still disappear...
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Motor trader plans to run 'green' taxi fleet
HAWKER-turned-motor trader Neo Nam Heng is likely to become the next new taxi operator in Singapore.
Mr Neo, 51, managing director of Cheng Yong Credit, one of the first parallel importers here, has applied to the Land Transport Authority for a taxi operating licence.
If the LTA awards him the licence, the newest player - in a market cabbies insist is overcrowded but commuters say suffers from a shortage of cabs - will be unlike any other taxi operator in Singapore.
This is because Mr Neo plans to operate an environmentally friendly fleet of taxis and charge drivers the lowest daily rental in town.
He is confident of securing the licence, and plans to start operating next month. The business will be run by Prime Leasing, a unit of Cheng Yong, which also operates a vehicle leasing and export business.
Prime Leasing plans to import petrol-driven cars such as the Honda Airwave, Honda Stream, Toyota Wish and Toyota Corolla station wagon, and modify them to run on compressed natural gas (CNG).
CNG cars are accorded a 40 per cent discount on additional registration fees (the main car tax) because they are deemed environmentally friendly. The tax break was to end this year, but the Government recently extended it to the end of 2009.
Hence, these 'green' taxis will cost $49,000 to $55,000 each (plus another $3,500 to modify it to run on CNG), compared with $65,000 to $90,000 for equivalent diesel cabs on the road. This will enable Prime Leasing to set taxi rentals at just $69 per day, versus the current industry average of $90.
He also said fares will be 'slightly cheaper', but gave no details.
'One thing is for sure, we will be a pro-driver company,' said Mr Neo, adding matter-of-factly that his father was a 'pirate taxi driver'. 'And we will have in place a scheme to make it very attractive for taxi drivers to join us.'
For instance, a cabby will get a lump sum reward equivalent to the residual tax value of the vehicle if he stays with Prime Leasing for five years continuously. That works out to about $11,000 for a Honda Airwave.
However, the cabby will have to put down a joining deposit of about $5,000.
Mr Neo will start with 500 taxis in the first year, and plans to increase this to 800 by the third.
If all goes well, Prime Leasing will be the fourth newcomer since the taxi industry was liberalised in 2003. It will compete head to head with established giants ComfortDelGro and SMRT Corp, as well as newcomers Trans-Cab, Smart Taxis and Premier Taxi.
Asked if he is worried about getting enough drivers - a problem even the big players face - Mr Neo said: 'There are about 40,000 drivers in the market. I need only 2 per cent of that.'
He reckons his scheme will attract only good and hardworking drivers as it requires staying power and loyalty. 'Our rental is the cheapest in town,' he reiterated. 'And our cars are brand new.'
CNG is also an economically viable alternative to diesel.
Said Mr Johnny Harjantho, managing director of Smart Taxis: 'A 2 litre car running on CNG can cover 22km on $1. A 1.8 litre diesel-run car manages about 14km.'
Mr Harjantho is building Singapore's second CNG refuelling station. The new station in Mandai is expected to open in January next year.
Prime Leasing has already appointed CNG conversion specialist C. Melchers to modify the first few cars. A Honda Airwave has been done, while a Honda Stream and Toyota Wish will be completed soon. -
will flag down rate be cheaper than other cabs?
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dun think so. they using CNG + bigger vehicles....
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$2.50 for Prime Taxis vehicles compared to $2.70..Originally posted by FireIce:will flag down rate be cheaper than other cabs? -
Their benefits for new applicant ......
Contract 5 years , completion of contract , $11,000 one-time payment of bonus
rental about $75 per day ....
Driver security deposit : $5000 . ( The rest of taxi ops = $1,000 ) -
U're spot-on ..... another 5000 taxis on the road also no enough for the around 50,000 people who need a cab home at 10pm .Originally posted by mhcampboy:peak hours or nearing midnight surcharge rate.... all the taxis will still disappear...
what is 500 taxis ? -
For those people who think they're going to be happy at 8pm to 12am because another 500 taxis will be on the road , and they can get a taxi easier , think again !
The drivers of this taxi , not all , but most , will be home by 9pm , cos they will be driving solo , as in no relief .
Solo drivers usually drive from 6am to 8pm . Then they go home rest for the next working day .
Why no relief ?
Which relief would want to pay $5000 security deposit just to drive half a shift ?
So this 500 taxis will not be a setback for evening shift ( 5pm - 5am ) drivers like me , rather , Day-shift drivers ( 5am - 5pm ) will be only slightly affected .
Overall , not really an impact to the industries . -
just hope tt the 500 new drivers will not be knn drivers like poolman can liao
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Original Singapore has got only 3.5 million population .....
With the influx of Foreign talents of 1 million in population ...
That make up of 4.5 million of population .
So If .... among the 1 million of F.Talent & professionals , if 50% works in town , that will be 500,000 FT in town , if among the 500,000 , 50% (250,000 ) went to take a train home , 10% (50,000 ) drives a car , 25% took a bus ( 125,000 ) , and 10% taking a taxi home ..... 5% other form of transport ....
10% will be 50,000 of foriegn talents taking a taxi home ....
50,000 foreign talent alone taking taxis home , and i never includes locals , of the 3.5 million of Sporeans working in town !!!!
Also those aunties and uncles going shopping and makan in town .
Clubbing people also never count .
How many taxis will be enough for those people going home between 8pm to 12am ? -
enough, if knn cabbies dun play punk
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Sadly ..... Singapore has got only not more than 30,000 taxis currently .
LTA cannot allow the datas of 1 taxi = 4 Singaporeans ratio to increase during peak period .
Or .... knn , Singapore off-peak period , everywhere taxi jamming up the road .
Taxi population cannot increase just for the sake of satisfying people who complaint no taxi just between 8pm to 12 am .
That's where the complain came in , 8pm to 12am . -
Once the peak peroid of extra $2 extend to 11pm from 8pm ...... trust me , no more new taxi company after Prime Leasing !
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500 taxis will only create "slightly" more problems ......
what problems ?
Local don't take , take only Ang-Mo or take only tourist problems .
Especially more tourists expected from 2008 , after the completion of the Singapore Flyer , or IR ..........
Most drivers of Comfort , will be doing the same old crap with or without these 500 new taxis .
50,000 taking cabs , 500 new support , another 45,000 still need to dial 6552-1111 !
There'll be only 500 lucky commuters , unlucky 45,000 who will still need to call 6552-1111 or 6552-2222 . -
The whole Taxi market in Singapore needs to be investigated for anti-competitive practices and/or unfair business practices.
Try getting a taxi in town around 10+pm. The drivers just circle around ignoring people trying to flag them down. Then when you book a taxi - Lo and behold - a taxi appears.
The surcharges charged and fare-structure used by the various taxi coys also look suspiciously similar... I sometimes wonder if the various Bosses have some sort of agreement between them. To me there seems to be something fishy going on and I think a thorough investigation would clear the air. -
hahahhaa the Toyota Wish, Honda Stream and Honda Airwave owners will be cursing Prime Leasing... using their car models as taxis
just like Mercedes, Skoda VW, Sonata..
a bit demoting i must say
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Let me explain why ....Originally posted by scabstermooch:The whole Taxi market in Singapore needs to be investigated for anti-competitive practices and/or unfair business practices.
Try getting a taxi in town around 10+pm. The drivers just circle around ignoring people trying to flag them down. Then when you book a taxi - Lo and behold - a taxi appears.
The surcharges charged and fare-structure used by the various taxi coys also look suspiciously similar... I sometimes wonder if the various Bosses have some sort of agreement between them. To me there seems to be something fishy going on and I think a thorough investigation would clear the air.
Very simple logic ....
Example Number 1 , Taxi Company A , cheaper flag down , like $2.10 , compare to $2.40 for other companies , many customers want to take , cos cheap ma , but ..... no taxi drivers want to drive , too cheap !
So this Taxi A company stuck with lots of vacant taxi at their back yard ! Cos no drivers want to rent their taxi ma .
Example Number 2 Taxi company B , higher flag down of $2.80 , many drivers want to drive , cos earn more money , but no customers want to take , too expensive , so drivers got set-back , return their rental taxi , so this Taxi company B , same problem , stuck with lots of un-rented taxis at their back yard .
Solution : Do what the Big Brother ( ComfortDelgro ) do , just follow the pricing , no wrong !
How to curb the problems ? Which i don't see it will be overcome as long as Comfort is Big Brother !
I think , my personal opinion : Merging of all the private taxi companies into one Mega Taxi Company .
Meaning TransCab , Premier , Smart and maybe SMRT all merge into one company , and rival ComfortDelgro into a price war .
Merge all the their taxi populations into an amount that can rival the 16.000 strong fleet of taxis from ComfortDelgro .
Unless they do that , which i dun see it in the near future .
To topple the big brother , first u must possessed a strong army , then u can talk about fighting the war . -
We just need 1 minute to circle around , guarantee , i say Guarantee , 110% , sure got "On-Call" .......Originally posted by scabstermooch:The whole Taxi market in Singapore needs to be investigated for anti-competitive practices and/or unfair business practices.
Try getting a taxi in town around 10+pm. The drivers just circle around ignoring people trying to flag them down. Then when you book a taxi - Lo and behold - a taxi appears.
So easy to earn $4 extra $$$ , why not ?
My taxi company love us ........ just because of us , they easily earn $0.70 per booking from us .
Let me say this , ComfortDelgro WILL never forgo a lucrative revenue from their booking service .
It's like saying goodbye to $7 million per year of pure revenue , they won't be so stupid . -
Many people in Sgforum is lucky , they learnt plenty of things in taxi forum .
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No offence more taxis more competition,more road rages,more incidents.My friend at LTA sya this.Originally posted by Poolman:For those people who think they're going to be happy at 8pm to 12am because another 500 taxis will be on the road , and they can get a taxi easier , think again !
The drivers of this taxi , not all , but most , will be home by 9pm , cos they will be driving solo , as in no relief .
Solo drivers usually drive from 6am to 8pm . Then they go home rest for the next working day .
Why no relief ?
Which relief would want to pay $5000 security deposit just to drive half a shift ?
So this 500 taxis will not be a setback for evening shift ( 5pm - 5am ) drivers like me , rather , Day-shift drivers ( 5am - 5pm ) will be only slightly affected .
Overall , not really an impact to the industries . -
I hope the new company decides to bring in the Ford Fairmont LPG for use as a limo cab.
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LTA gave out more COEs , created more cars , more accidents , more traffic jams , more road rash and more death .Originally posted by carbikebus:No offence more taxis more competition,more road rages,more incidents.My friend at LTA sya this. -
That's sillypore for you,Increase ERP still lower COEs for cars and vice versa,Fishy isn't it?Sillypore very tough one,You have to be thick skin just like my 25 years experience Cabbie Uncle told me.The story never end,Cars blame gahmen,Taxis blame cars...Originally posted by Poolman:LTA gave out more COEs , created more cars , more accidents , more traffic jams , more road rash and more death . -
Call taxi SG in is SGD4 while Call taxi in HK is HKD4..... most even waive it lor..... go long distance or airport got discount in HK.. while SG got surcharge.... after midnight u can bargain for 30% discount while SG u got 50% surcharge.......funny right?