Help cabbies cope with escalating fuel costs and step up training Letter from RAYMOND LO WAN MOU
I refer to the report "Will new penalties make 'disappearing' taxis reappear?" (Nov 13).
Having been a cabby for four-and-a-half years, I feel that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and the taxi companies can do much more other than mete out suspensions, fines and demerit points to punish errant taxi drivers.
My suggestions:
* Sustain enforcement of the LTA's new rules until all cabbies abide by them. List these rules in their contracts with the taxi companies.
* Simplify the complicated surcharge-and-fare system because of the loopholes which are being exploited by dishonest taxi drivers. For example, there is a function in taxi meters which allows dishonest drivers to manually add surcharges into the final fare. This function should be removed.
* Provide in-house training to cabbies. In my years with SMRT and ComfortDelGro, I was not offered any training on business professionalism and customer service. I believe such training would have been helpful.
* Reduce taxi rental to help drivers cope with the increase in fuel prices (now 94 cents per litre from ComfortDelGro). The larger taxi companies should think of this as a form of corporate social responsibility that would help cabbies take home a reasonable income for their families.
* The public must also continue conveying feedback to the LTA and taxi companies on errant cabbies.
More enforcement squads could help
Letter from RAYMOND SONG
Not all cabbies are errant. But to clamp down on the black sheep, taxi companies or the LTA should deploy more enforcement officers on the road. The fines collected from errant cabbies can go into a pool to hire the officers.
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