The Straits Times reported that the higher rates are keeping commuters off taxis for this festive season. Strangely enough, I was not able to get any cabs today - at 1145am in the late morning - and most Comfort cabs that I see are all hired.

Perhaps I was trying to get a cab in a housing estate - but that’s Ang Mo Kio and near an MRT station. Where are all the cabs? Don’t tell me they are all waiting for the peak hours now???

Ok, jokes aside. I think most Singaporeans are still taking cab like nobody’s business - and that I don’t really see a sudden influx of taxis waiting for passengers. Hmm… or is it just me?

There maybe a group of them who have sworn off taxis for a while, but I am not sure if this is representative of the entire population. Then again, I don’t think Singaporeans are s**kers, are they?

HIGHER taxi fares are keeping some commuters away this festive season.

ComfortDelgro, largest taxi operator here with 15,000 taxis, saw a 10 per cent drop in all call bookings on Monday, the first day of the increased fares.

SMRT, the second largest operator with 3,000 taxis, also received 200 fewer calls during Monday’s morning peak hours from 7am to 9am.

A spokesman, however, said that bookings went back to normal for the rest of the day. SMRT’s fall in bookings comes despite them not raising fares till Friday.

One commuter who decided to stay off cabs on Tuesday was Ms Shianna Tan, 28, shipping officer. She normally takes a taxi from her home in Aljunied to her workplace in Changi Industrial Park to work by 8.30am.

‘I used to take cabs by myself, then I tried to find someone to share a cab with me to save cost, but now I’ve just decided to stop taking taxis. It’s just too expensive,’ she said.

ComfortDelgro is the first among the six taxi companies to raise cab fares.

Flagdowns have gone up from $2.50 to $2.80 and the metered fares are up 20 cents for every 385m, compared to 10 cents for every 210m.

The city surcharge has also tripled from $1 to $3 between 5pm and midnight.

And peak hour premiums, which affect those heading to work in the morning and those heading home after office hours, is now 35 per cent of the metered fare compared to $2 flat fee.

SMRT, Premier, Trans-cab and Smart taxis will be raising their fares within the next two weeks. Prime taxis, the newest player in the industry, will be increasing only its city surcharge.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 18th December 2007

It’s been finalised and confirmed - that same-sex civil partnerships can be registered. Mind you, it’s not a marriage, but just a civil partnership. However, just like marriages, it can be registered and recognised by the law.

There are some differences for civil partnership-registered couples though, that they are not allowed to adopt children, unlike married couples. Despite this difference, they will have the same rights as married heterosexual couples in inheritance, taxation, and other financial matters. For a country that had banned same-sex marriage, this is certainly a step towards liberalization.

Read the rest of this entry »

There were apparently no shortage of cabs in the town area and at the fringe of the town area yesterday - the Straits Times reported. Perhaps the $3.00 is sufficient to entice drivers into waiting for passengers at the queue yesterday? Or perhaps they were warned encouraged not to all wander into the CBD because the grandfather company is paying for their ERP surcharge if they don’t get a passenger within 15 minutes? Was there some string attached to the condition on the ERP? I definitely won’t know.

With regards to the disappearing taxis before 5:00pm syndrome, I’m not sure if it was already an existing problem, but I remembered 1 year ago, it was never that difficult to look for a cab even at 4:45pm. Well, perhaps again, it’s a demand and supply issue, but what I witnessed yesterday was definitely disgusting. In order to earn that extra $3.00 and to count the flag down rate into the 35% surcharge (which works out a dollar more - 35% of $2.80 is about $0.98), the taxi driver actually had the cheek to "go for a break" and come back when it’s after 5:00pm. It’s downright unscrupulous!

With regards to the Straits Times report, what they are reporting or reviewing is just the tip of the iceberg. They should have done a comparison of queues before the hike and after - at the last 15 to 30 minutes before 5:00pm to see if it had worsen. That may have better portrayed if the problem is created by the taxi drivers or not. I mean, who really takes a cab at 4:45pm anyway? Assuming that most working people get off at 5:00pm (which is a luxury) or 5:30pm to 6:00pm, if not later?

Oh well, I guess the true effects of the fare hike will only come in much later. Perhaps Singaporeans will forget about the hike and just start taking cabs again and then, it’s time for another hike.

Huat ah!

THE new city area surcharge of $3 - up from $1 - had cab operators worried that cabbies would avoid taxi stands in the city fringes and head to where the money was.

But this was not the case yesterday. A check by The Straits Times found a steady flow of cabs at two of the 10 city fringe taxi stands, located within 500m of the central business district (CBD).

At Far East Plaza, for example, there was even a queue of about 12 taxis at about 6.15pm, with no passenger in sight, although the drivers could have earned an extra $3 by heading down the road to the taxi stand at Lucky Plaza, within the CBD.

Between 5.30pm and 7.30pm, the average waiting time for a cab was about five minutes at Pacific Plaza and 10 minutes at Far East Plaza, both in Scotts Road - just outside the city area.

But as it was just Day 1 of higher fares,the Land Transport Authority said that it would monitor the city fringe for some time and then work with taxi companies if there is a problem.

ComfortDelGro started its new city surcharges yesterday, along with increased metered fares, flag-down rates and peak-period premiums.

Passengers will have to pay about 10 per cent more on their fares during non-peak hours, but 18 to 49 per cent more during peak hours.

Four other cab companies - SMRT Taxis, Trans-Cab, Premier and Smart - are following suit within the next two weeks.

Prime Taxis will be increasing only its city surcharge.

mariaa@sph.com.sg

wycin@sph.com.sg

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 18th December 2007