Difficulty making ends meet? Taxi drivers can afford not to pick up fares during peak hours

Nov 26, 2007

I STRONGLY disagree with the editorial, 'Higher flag-down the fare way to go' (ST, Nov. 21).
During peak hours, almost every taxi on the road has the 'Hired' or 'On Call' sign lit up and the interminably long wait when dialling for a cab testifies to the shortage of taxis. Notwithstanding this daily inconvenience to local commuters, as a city that aggressively markets itself as a tourist destination par excellence, can Singapore afford to be a place where tourists wait in vain for their taxis?

Despite the peak hour surcharges, many taxi drivers I spoke to chose not to enter the city area or avoid driving during peak hours altogether. Regardless of their reasons for doing so, one thing is clear: These taxi drivers can afford not to pick up fares during peak hours. This debunks the myth that taxi drivers are having difficulty making ends meet.

It is misleading to compare taxi drivers with salaried workers. As 'hirers', taxi drivers are akin to sole proprietors; they pocket all of their earnings after deducting costs, allowing them to profit from their enterprise. On the other hand, salaried workers have to hand over all of their earnings, no matter how hard they had worked.

The enormous frustration posed by the COE and ERP to the car-owning ambitions of many middle-class Singaporeans must find relief in a form of public transport that best approximates the privacy and comfort of car travel. It would be adding insult to injury if, in addition to the COE and ERP, taxi commuting became so highly priced that they are affordable only to the rich and tolerated by the desperate.

Making taxi commuting expensive would justify more Singaporeans owning cars. Despite plenty of taxis in London and New York, their citizens continue to purchase cars in record numbers, adding to traffic congestion. Thus expensive taxi commuting in London and New York cannot be held up as models for us to emulate.

I suggest that the solution to the taxi situation in Singapore comprise the following: Increase taxi supply to meet peak hour demand, conscientious law enforcement to check errant taxi drivers and the installation of a system at taxi stands for commuters to indicate demand and then broadcasting a map of demand concentrations onto the communications screens of taxi drivers.

Daniel Suen Boon Kheok