What's wrong with making a call to Comfort to book a cab? Or if you're afraid that on the morning itself, you can't book a cab easily, what's wrong with calling for a cab the night before to ensure that you will have a cab the following morning?
If you choose to save that $2.50 and hope that every cab will stop for you, then you're just going to be very disappointed. I'm sorry if you are going to use the line that we are in the public transport line and should take every Tom, Dick or Harry that comes along. LTA certainly doesn't think so, hence we need to pay ERP like every private car owners.
And put it this way, if you are being offered 2 identical jobs with the same set of collegues, bosses and job scope, but one job offers you 60% higher pay and fuss free working environment, which one will you take? Please don't bullshit me and say you will choose the lower paying one. This is human nature and we Taxi Drivers are human too. We have our families, our love ones and, at the very least, our own stomach to look after. If stopping and picking you and your grandma is going to cost us much more time (and hence eat into our earnings), then I'm sorry that you just have to wait a bit longer for the next kind hearted TD to come along. End of the way, if we end up only bringing home net earnings of $50 because we stop for every Tom, Dick or Harry, who is going to pity us? You? For heaven sake, you don't even want to spend the extra $2.50 to ensure your grandma can be transported comfortably and without have to wait in the hope of a cab stopping, you think you will pity us?
Even for your own grandma sake, you are not willing to spend the extra $2.50 for her comfort, she is your very love one and maybe someone who has cared for you while you are still a toddler and, perhaps, your parents had to work to make ends meet. Your very own grandma, and you are not willing to spend the extra $2.50 for her comfort and you are hoping for us Taxi Drivers, who are most likely strangers to you or your grandma, to have more heart than you to stop for her comfort??
Remember, when you are pointing your finger at another person, perhaps you should be mindful that you are at least point 3 fingers at yourself. I'm sorry for the long post, members, but I just woke up from my sleep and read this nonsense.... Or perhaps because I've just lost my grandma recently and it's causing me to be emotional...
Boyboyb, put yourself in our shoe please and just think... OK? We are just taxi drivers with everyday needs to meet. We are not charity drivers, ok? Maybe you can try asking the doctor who is treating your mother to charge your $2.50 / $3.50 cheaper so that you can afford to book a cab to go to him, which will result in him having 1 more customer for the day. Afterall, why is he in the medical trade? To sav life, no?
I'm aware that taxis/pte vehicles are not allowed to stop in bus lanes and the route from home to dialysis center is definately NOT a short route. There are also other able bodied passengers who have encountered similar situations and these reports are not new it the forum page of local newspapers. To clarify, I am NOT asking for charity or discounted fare. Just fed up with those who stopped intiallly and fled up seeing a handicapped pax. That's all!