Nov 22, 2007
I REFER to the article, 'Taxi fare surcharges: Too much of a good thing?' (ST, Nov 20).
I have been a cab driver for about 10 years.
I disagree with NUS researcher Han Songguang's suggestion that scrapping all surcharges will ease the problem.
If the airport surcharge is scrapped, there will bound to be a shortage of taxis at the airport because then it will not be feasible economically for a driver to drive an empty cab 10km or more to pick up passengers.
At present, it costs between 90 cents and $1 for a taxi to cover a distance of 10km. Cabbies who drive 10km to 20km to the airport without passengers will have already incurred about $1.50 in fuel costs. Add to that the time of travelling to the airport and the time taken to queue for passengers, and it is obvious why the airport surcharge should stay. Worse still if the passenger's destination is close to the airport.
Scrap location and peak-hour surcharge only if the ERP surcharge is waived and the flag-down fare raised. And for the system to work, the flag-down fare needs to be higher than the call-booking surcharge. If the ERP surcharge cannot be waived, then the city surcharge should stay.
However, scrap the holiday surcharge by all means.
Chan Guan Heng
1 comment:
(#2)
takefive
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 06:36 AM
Wouldn't scraping of holiday surcharge also lead to shortage of cabs?
(#3)
DSTA_87
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 08:06 AM
True, maybe the rental rate of the vehicle should drop on public holidays.
(#4)
unewolke
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 08:43 AM
The best thing to do is to let the cab drivers own the cab themselves if they so wish/can afford it...and then let them determine what is an acceptable fare, in negotiation with the impending passenger...free market rules what.
(#5)
lobo_respawned
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 08:51 AM
I would go for rental based on how much the cab earns. All taxis should be using their meters for calculation of fare, hence it shouldn't be too hard to incorporate something that calculates in total, how much revenue they get for one month. The taxi company gets a percentage. A tiered percentage can be introduced where the more you earn, the less percentage you pay.
So if a taxi driver is sick, and cannot earn money, at least he is not penalized for it. If he decide to take 'leave', he can also do so.
(#6)
Misnomer
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 09:18 AM
#4, then the days of ba huang che may reappear.
(#8)
lobo_respawned
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 12:00 PM
#7
business model. You proposed business model where taxi drivers own their own cabs, I proposed an alternative.
(#9)
star16888
November 22, 2007 Thursday, 09:05 PM
unewolke,
Agreed. I think taxi companies are blood suckers and don't add any value to the system. They should be eliminated.
Post a Comment