[News] Taxis could become harder to flag down
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http://www.todayonline.com/Singapore/EDC120602-0000059/Taxis-could-become-harder-to-flag-down
More may obtain a taxi licence to rent cabs for personal use instead of plying the roads
SINGAPORE - At a time when sky-high Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums are dissuading Singaporeans from owning car, they could, ironically, find it more difficult to get taxis.
Previously, tales of taxi drivers who worked only a few hours a day, earning just enough to cover rental and overheads, and use their vehicles mostly for personal needs, were not uncommon.
But these days, more people could possibly be getting taxi licences for the wrong reasons - as suggested by Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew in a press interview published yesterday.
Noting how, with the exception of those owned by ComfortDelGro, taxis are hired out mostly to cabbies who drive a single shift per day, Mr Lui said the authorities "need to be even more vigilant about this ... because now driving a taxi can, with high COE prices, become a substitute for owning a car".
Taxi rentals here range between S$64 and S$116. And unlike car owners, taxi drivers do not need to pay for servicing, insurance or road tax.
Cabbie Eugene Kwok, 45, said he would not be surprised if high COE prices prompted more people to hire a taxi instead of buying a car.
Another cabbie, Mr Ismail, 47, told TODAY he has heard of fellow taxi drivers who only drive "part time" to recover costs - high COEs or not.
As a result, commuters suffer: To maximise their earnings in the shortest period of time, these taxi drivers would only pick up passengers at places with surcharges such as the airport or the integrated resorts, or customers on short trips within the Central Business District during peak hours, Mr Ismail said.
He added: "It is the freedom of being able to plan our own schedules that appeals most to cabbies." -
Availability of taxis to be improved
Following constant public feedback about the difficulties in getting a cab, a tripartite workgroup - comprising the Land Transport Authority, the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the taxi operators - has been formed to improve availability of taxis on the roads, NTA adviser Seng Han Thong told reporters yesterday.
It is looking into ways to incentivise more drivers to utilise their taxis fully, said Mr Seng, who was speaking at the sidelines of an event to launch a book about cabbies' experiences.
According to Mr Seng, about 40 per cent of the 27,000 taxis here are "one-man operations". Mr Seng would not be drawn on the possibility of the high COEs leading to more taxi drivers using their vehicles as personal transport. "As far as I know, they are earning a living," Mr Seng said.
Still, there is feedback from taxi drivers that it is difficult to find suitable relief drivers, in order to utilise the taxis for two shifts a day. To address this, a nationwide data sharing system will be set up to better match drivers, Mr Seng said. The workgroup is working on the technical details, said Mr Seng, who did not say when the system will be ready.
When contacted, ComfortDelGro spokesperson Tammy Tan said: "We do, of course, encourage our drivers to utilise the vehicle to its maximum potential".
She reiterated that it is the drivers' prerogative how to utilise their vehicles, "especially since they may well end up out of pocket if they choose not to ply the road for fares for a large part of the day". About 80 per cent of ComfortDelGro's 16,000-strong fleet of taxis operate on double shifts, Ms Tan said.
SMRT Taxis director Tony Heng said that his company - which owns about 3,200 taxis - consider its cabbies "to be self-employed". "Thus, it is in their best interest to put their taxis to optimum economic use," he said.
Mountbatten Member of Parliament Lim Biow Chuan - who sits on the Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for transport - felt the issue is a grey area: If a taxi driver needs to, for example, drive his wife somewhere, it is "only logical" that he uses his vehicle to do so, he noted.
Mr Lim suggested that taxi operators track the usage of taxis based on the mileage or the fares collected. "The taxi companies could charge the drivers based on the desired mileage. If the taxi is used more, they could be charged a lower rental," said Mr Lim. -
what the fuck they talking ?
taxi hard to flag ?
who say one ?
talk cock , come and drive one day enough , talk so much for fuck ?
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Com'on la those knnccb talking cock people , if they all want to conspiracy into higher rental , just say so .
$120 for Sonata
$170 for Benz
How much for Chrysler ?
No need say so much .
Talk so much for fuck ?
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RENTAL HIKE COMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Comfort also day light say $120 liao for new Sonata .
Epica also day light robbery at $115 from SMRT & TransCab
What's new man ?
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So when Sonata at $120 per day rental , flag down to $3.40 .
Wondering new Benz rental $170 , meaning what ? $5 flag down ?
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Oh dear , doggie shitting soon .
I just know my dog , when he wagged his tail , going to shit soon .
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U know guys , when LTA was first set up by that horseface , that horseface want to implement one cabby one taxi system .
Now his implementations from LTA to National Developement , all cock up big time .
They clearing his shit left behind .
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i also heard fr former colleagues they use the taxi for own personal use like going for meetings with clients,do errand jobs for their business ,do delivery of items etc
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Originally posted by foolsh_2000:
i also heard fr former colleagues they use the taxi for own personal use like going for meetings with clients,do errand jobs for their business ,do delivery of items etc
so ?taxis became hard to flag ?
why don't they come and drive a cab for just a day ?
to see if taxi is hard to flag ?
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u guys better not believe them . . .
seen just too much craps from them from day 1 i started driving a crap .
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yah lor they juz wan to raise rental...... see lar all cannon here cannon there
their income now they wan a piece of the pie liao........ who suffer?? us only
all our hard work they juz sit back n suck away....... wat can we do?? LPPL.........
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new sonata rental still at $104 nett,not yet increased
my relative just made a booking
2-6mths waiting time
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they may do reverse rental deduction method, like ezlink like when you board the bus, when you operator log in start drive taxi, they will deduct a fix highest rental from you operator first (this can be from deposit or advance rent payment). then at the end of the day when you log out, they will refund back part of that rental according to the distance and number of passengers you take that day (or can be that week or that month depending how they set). but the refund might not be same day, maybe next month, to motivate the driver to keep driving on, or as incentive cashback, or only at the end of contract if someone says forget to log in log out (they can monitor who is hardworking who is not), then bye bye $! then after X number of times, that person can be penalised or blacklisted or even terminated. they can break up the distance, number of passengers as well area of pickup, into stages or tiers. like first 250km how much rental discount..first 25 passengers another rental discount..the driver may also need to clock in how many pickup from which specific location thats another how much rental discount...then every next 25km, every next 2 passengers, every next airport or cruise centre pickup another level of discount etc etc but inversely if you less than for example minimum 200km, less than 20 passengers, less than total 2 pickups from airport and cruise centre a day, then they will impose an additional rental surcharge! ANY WAY THEY WIN!
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huh? then this morning after 6am, I OBK at sengkang for 1 hour end up go punggol eating, then again also OBK for 30 minutes before get a pax down to harbour front.
ccb, of all people, that seng han tong again, nabei, later i go burnt some paper better
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Anyway, also taxi driver fault, reported earning 4k per month, cold hard cash with no CPF, sure to gather paxs, govt agencies and MIW millionaires TCSS and try to make us difficult. Cabbies should learn how to face the media,
"Cabbie Eugene Kwok, 45, said he would not be surprised if high COE prices prompted more people to hire a taxi instead of buying a car.
Another cabbie, Mr Ismail, 47, told TODAY he has heard of fellow taxi drivers who only drive "part time" to recover costs - high COEs or not"All these are detrimental to our trade. The best is no comments
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Wah, headline in the newspaper, Today! Think the Trasport Ministry is going to implement something no good again. I dun think more than 1 percent of the taxis rented out is for own usage, and their figures dun really tally. Hey, you think driving part time can earn your taxi and fuel cost easily, if hire out shift, you can only use the vehicle at your shift, and dun get he freedom to travel around all time day and night. Must get Ah Teo, Ah Seng and Ah Lim to take off at their current duties, and drive at least 1 week of taxi on the road to see for themselves. A week day, a week night.
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Originally posted by bowah:
Anyway, also taxi driver fault, reported earning 4k per month, cold hard cash with no CPF, sure to gather paxs, govt agencies and MIW millionaires TCSS and try to make us difficult. Cabbies should learn how to face the media,
"Cabbie Eugene Kwok, 45, said he would not be surprised if high COE prices prompted more people to hire a taxi instead of buying a car.
Another cabbie, Mr Ismail, 47, told TODAY he has heard of fellow taxi drivers who only drive "part time" to recover costs - high COEs or not"All these are detrimental to our trade. The best is no comments
。。。。Anyway, also taxi driver fault, reported earning 4k per month, cold hard cash with no CPF。。。。
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Thats why i always said , just drive and stfu, dont create a hoo ha over taxi driving.
All of us have NO control in the way the authorities & taxi cos make decisions and worse of all , they are mostly detrimental to our well being.
Those who disagree , pls open up your brain and do some self examination.
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Bro, sometime we stfu but end up also get screwed and banged by them, these people got no limitation in squeezing the lower rank of the society, the matter that they are rich is because we are squeezed.
And if you look at the fcuking /news/issue properly, out of no where, no prove, no relevancy, they said taxis become harder to flag down, and all because of a thing they themselve created, COE, what the fuck got COE got to do with flagging in TD???? knnccb
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these people eat too full,a sonota 120bux a day thats 44k a year,what dont need to pay insurance,roadtax repair.stupid simple math also dont know.
and 44k a year can afford any car in the market.meed to drive a sampan meh.
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You already identify the problem, you already knows the root of the problem, and yet you want blame other, both pax and TD for the problem you created?? which is not the root cause of the problem (by the way, there is no problem). Go settle your fcuking COE problem first.
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Ever since the Ferrari case, taxi forum more and more toward speaker corner..
No problem la, other's forum are worst than here..
Authority won't just come in Forum and peep, definitely not in Singapore.
Don't be over sensitive, they had better spy than that....
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Brudders,
This is SINGAPORE.
You are not born yesterday.
What you hear, is NOT What it is.
This is just a prelude to something bigger.
Ask you a simple question.
"What can you do?"
Now you can see how Educated Gangsterism works.
so,....
S.T.F.U.
[and wait to get screwed]