BETTER TAXI RIDES - Idea No. 1: Surcharge waiver ez-link card

Nov 28, 2008

BETTER TAXI RIDES Idea No. 1: Surcharge waiver ez-link card

I REFER to reports that commuters will soon be able to use their ez-link cards to pay taxi fares. I suggest taxi companies consider waiving peak-hour and CBD surcharges for the sick and disabled who rely heavily on taxis to take them to places of treatment such as hospitals and dialysis centres. The Land Transport Authority and EZ-Link could incorporate in the ez-link card a feature to waive taxi surcharges automatically. The surcharge waiver ez-link card, which would be similar to the concession ez-link card for senior citizens and minors, would be issued specially to the sick and disabled. When they used it to pay taxi fares, no surcharges would be levied during peak hours, regardless of location. The Government would give the taxi companies rebates for the waived surcharges. Take the case of my elderly mother who goes to the Kidney Dialysis Foundation in Chinatown three times a week for dialysis. Each time she completes her dialysis, the taxi peak hour is about to start. A trip home, which normally costs $4.20 to $4.80 during off-peak hours, easily sets us back another $5, making a total of about $10. Taxi peak-hour surcharges have added another financial burden, on top of the medical and dialysis fees we pay each month. There is no bus or MRT service we can take between our home and Chinatown. Another benefit of the surcharge waiver ez-link card is that it would cut down on illegal hailing of taxis in the street in Chinatown. This is because patients could take their time to walk slowly to the nearest taxi stand without having to beat the peak-hour and CBD surcharges. The surcharge waiver ez-link fare card could also waive other surcharges imposed in the future, for example, a fuel surcharge. I hope by sharing my mother's experience, the authorities will understand some of the constraints faced by chronically ill commuters and empathise with them when they have little choice but to flag down taxis illegally. The surcharge waiver ez-link card would go a long way to help the sick and disabled with their expenses. Priscilla Poh (Ms)