Being Smart, is Good... TRYING to be "Smart" - Not Good...
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Marcel Lee Pereira
Tue, Mar 11, 2008
my paper
Taxi rule upsets hotels
>TAXI drivers are not happy. Hotels are not happy.The new ruling requiring cabs to drop and pick up commuters at designated stands in the Central Business District has been causing some tempers to flare.
The dilemma they face: Can taxis drop off or pick up hotel guests when the hotels neither have taxi stands nor private driveways?
The new rule troubles budget and boutique hotels in Chinatown as it may affect their businesses.
The rule, which took effect on Mar 1, applies between 7am-10pm from Mondays to Saturdays, except on public holidays.
Chinatown has several small hotels located in shophouses along roads such as Mosque Street, Temple Street and Smith Street.
These hotels are concerned that if the rule is strictly enforced, their guests will have to walk from a taxi stand at either Eu Tong Sen Street or South Bridge Road with their luggage upon arrival in Singapore.
Since cabbies will not stop outside their entrances, these guests will have to walk out to the designated stands to hail taxis for sightseeing.
At the moment, however, hotels are still continuing to receive and send their guests off in cabs which stop at their main entrances.
Five out of seven hotels my paper approached said they are still booking cabs for them.
One hotel, however, said that its taxi booking system was disrupted when the rules kicked in.
At the Inn at Temple Street, front desk officer P. Bascaran, 42, said that when he entered the hotel's code to the automated taxi booking system, it was rejected.
"Guests have to walk out and find their own cabs. They have complained every single day. It's spoiling the hotel's image," he said.
Mr Leslie Chua, 38, hotel manager of Berjaya Hotel Singapore on Duxton Road, said cabs are still stopping outside for bookings, but the pick-up is done in a matter of minutes.
If the pick-up takes longer, the drivers stop at empty carpark lots at the roadside, so as not to hold up traffic.
Said Mr Chua: "We can't possibly tell hotel guests to walk to the main road, 30 metres away. We would not be providing a very basic level of service."
Cabbies could be fined $100 and given three demerit points if they flouted the new rule.In spite of this, when my paper visited Chinatown last week, at least five taxis were spotted dropping off passengers along the side roads in Chinatown.
Some taxi drivers say they will continue to drop off their guests in front of their hotels, especially if they have heavy luggage.
Said cabby Amir Hamzah, 33: "I know it's a risk, but what if they have trouble walking? I can't bear to watch my passengers in difficulty."
At press time, the Land Transport Authority was unable to say if it would exercise flexibility when it comes to hotels, or take action against them.
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Give them time to fine tune .
Still has got plenty to adjust .
More complaints for them , means more research needs to be done .
More research , means possible adjustment to be better .
Give them time .
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When things first started, there will surely be some "glitches" & as poolman said, we need to give them some time to iron things out & we shall see how it goes
