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Cabbies hope for higher takings, commuters see red
Taxi association urges other operators to adjust fares soon
By Maria Almenoar, Transport Correspondent
CABBY Noor Azhar Abdul Hamid works nine to 10 hours a day and takes home between $1,000 and $1,500 a month.
He, like other taxi drivers, hopes the new fare structure by ComfortDelGro will improve his takings.
'The cost of living has gone up and so have diesel prices, so hopefully these new fares will increase our earnings,' said Mr Noor Azhar, 62, who has been driving a taxi for the last five years.
From Monday, ComfortDelGro will change its fare structure. Changes include extending surcharge periods, raising advance booking charges and increasing flagdown fares.
It said it was doing so to address the supply and demand mismatch, as the demand for taxi services grows.
The National Taxi Association (NTA), which represents the six taxi driver associations, supported the new fares, saying in a statement that it was necessary to help drivers defray part of their operating costs.
It pointed out that fares had remained stagnant since 2007.
NTA president Wee Boon Kim said the revision was 'fair and timely' given rapidly rising operating costs, especially diesel prices, since January, and higher cost of living.
He said the association believes the 'overall taxi metered fare should reflect the operating cost of the taxi business, and the primary consideration is the income stability of the taxi drivers when fare adjustments are made'.
He said: 'NTA is already in talks with other taxi companies and urges them to adjust their taxi fares as soon as possible.'
He added that ComfortDelGro had been in discussion with leaders from two of its NTA branches - Comfort Taxi Operators' Association and CityCab Operators' Association - over the fare issue in the past few months.
While cabbies welcomed the new fare structure, commuters were - not surprisingly - unhappy.
Some, like marketing manager Jocelyn Lee, felt that there was no justification for the changes.
'Nobody wants to spend so much money on taxis if they had a better alternative. Demand will remain the same, just that everyone will end up paying more,' she said.
Miss Lee, 26, who lives in Sembawang, takes a taxi to work in Paya Lebar because a trip on public transport takes 11/2 hours while a taxi ride takes 25 minutes.
She pays about $20 every day, including a $5.20 advance booking fee because she is unable to flag down a cab in the morning.
The head of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, Mr Cedric Foo, said that while commuters may sympathise with the plight of taxi drivers, the increase would be hard for some commuters to accept, especially when there are not many viable alternative modes of tra-vel.
He noted that certificate of entitlement prices are now very high, making it difficult to buy a car.
'Public transport is still not comprehensive enough and is lacking in capacity and coverage,' he said.
But, he added, it was important to note that the taxi industry was deregulated and therefore a free market.
If Comfort was charging higher than the market could bear, other operators could come in to offer an alternative to commuters, he said.
'Commuters can then vote with their feet. If they feel the fares are too high, then they can take a cab with another company,' he said.
The five other cab companies have not confirmed yet if they will raise fares.
[email protected]
Taxi association urges other operators to adjust fares soon
By Maria Almenoar, Transport Correspondent
CABBY Noor Azhar Abdul Hamid works nine to 10 hours a day and takes home between $1,000 and $1,500 a month.
He, like other taxi drivers, hopes the new fare structure by ComfortDelGro will improve his takings.
'The cost of living has gone up and so have diesel prices, so hopefully these new fares will increase our earnings,' said Mr Noor Azhar, 62, who has been driving a taxi for the last five years.
From Monday, ComfortDelGro will change its fare structure. Changes include extending surcharge periods, raising advance booking charges and increasing flagdown fares.
It said it was doing so to address the supply and demand mismatch, as the demand for taxi services grows.
The National Taxi Association (NTA), which represents the six taxi driver associations, supported the new fares, saying in a statement that it was necessary to help drivers defray part of their operating costs.
It pointed out that fares had remained stagnant since 2007.
NTA president Wee Boon Kim said the revision was 'fair and timely' given rapidly rising operating costs, especially diesel prices, since January, and higher cost of living.
He said the association believes the 'overall taxi metered fare should reflect the operating cost of the taxi business, and the primary consideration is the income stability of the taxi drivers when fare adjustments are made'.
He said: 'NTA is already in talks with other taxi companies and urges them to adjust their taxi fares as soon as possible.'
He added that ComfortDelGro had been in discussion with leaders from two of its NTA branches - Comfort Taxi Operators' Association and CityCab Operators' Association - over the fare issue in the past few months.
While cabbies welcomed the new fare structure, commuters were - not surprisingly - unhappy.
Some, like marketing manager Jocelyn Lee, felt that there was no justification for the changes.
'Nobody wants to spend so much money on taxis if they had a better alternative. Demand will remain the same, just that everyone will end up paying more,' she said.
Miss Lee, 26, who lives in Sembawang, takes a taxi to work in Paya Lebar because a trip on public transport takes 11/2 hours while a taxi ride takes 25 minutes.
She pays about $20 every day, including a $5.20 advance booking fee because she is unable to flag down a cab in the morning.
The head of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, Mr Cedric Foo, said that while commuters may sympathise with the plight of taxi drivers, the increase would be hard for some commuters to accept, especially when there are not many viable alternative modes of tra-vel.
He noted that certificate of entitlement prices are now very high, making it difficult to buy a car.
'Public transport is still not comprehensive enough and is lacking in capacity and coverage,' he said.
But, he added, it was important to note that the taxi industry was deregulated and therefore a free market.
If Comfort was charging higher than the market could bear, other operators could come in to offer an alternative to commuters, he said.
'Commuters can then vote with their feet. If they feel the fares are too high, then they can take a cab with another company,' he said.
The five other cab companies have not confirmed yet if they will raise fares.
[email protected]
