Response to Taxi Availability Indicators announced by Land Authority Transport

Meeting Commuters’ Demand During Peak Hours

Many commuters have shared with taxi drivers that they find it challenging to hail a taxi especially during the morning and evening peak hours. In particular, the National Taxi Association (NTA) has received regular feedback concerning how the restrictions in the Central Business District (CBD) area may have contributed to the experience faced by commuters. These concerns and suggestions to better manage the situation have also been shared with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and taxi operators.

Increasing the taxi fleet to meet demand is not a viable option as it could potentially worsen road congestion and may not adequately match the demand. The real problem is how to meet demand for taxis during peak hours, which is why the NTA has called on the LTA to review existing measures to help taxi service become a more convenient public transport.

NTA therefore welcome the latest proposal by LTA to further tweak the CBD Pick-up and Drop off rule. Other areas that NTA hopes LTA can look into, to further improve taxi availability include:

1. Reviewing the ERP rates to encourage more taxis to enter CBD areas to pick-up passengers
2. For taxis to be able to pick-up and drop off passengers at bus stops, not compromising safety of commuters and other vehicles.

NTA also welcome initiatives by taxi operators to complement their call center services with iPhone and Android taxi booking apps. These initiatives have made it more convenient for commuters to book a taxi.

LTA Taxi Availability (TA) Indicators

With regards to the TA indicators introduced by LTA, many taxi drivers are already plying the roads actively during peak hours.  As drivers, they have to meet a minimum daily return to offset their taxi rental costs.  Thus, majority of our drivers will have to clock a certain minimum number of trips, mileage and driving hours.

NTA’s priority and key concerns maintain that the TA indicators should not compromise the safety aspects on the road for both drivers and commuters, as well as the health of taxi drivers while we attempt to better match the supply and demand of taxi services.

We urge our taxi drivers to continue their hard work in delivering higher taxi service standards. NTA looks forward to working together with the LTA, taxi operators and commuters to improve the supply and demand of taxi services.

Mr Wee Boon Kim

President

National Taxi Association