THERE has been much talk about the complicated taxi fares and
surcharges ("Complex cab fares enough to drive you crazy"; Oct 26),
but taxi drivers also face pressures.
Every customer we pick up is income to us. While we do our best
to serve commuters, the business environment is really getting
tough.
Taxi rental has gone up over the
years. Diesel and fuel prices have also escalated.
To appease drivers, taxi operators
increase flagdown rates to offer options for drivers to earn enough
to cover the rental.
To us, it seldom results in higher
take-home pay as the increase in flagdown fares usually means we
have less business.
Many drivers are putting in an
extra hour or two of driving a day just to cover the higher
costs.
This is in addition to the 10 to 12 hours we are already putting
in a day.
New taxi availability standards put in place early this year are
an added burden.
While the increased costs and new service requirements are
imposed on the taxi operators, the reality is that these
obligations are passed to us in the form of higher rental and new
hiring agreements demanding that we abide by these new
requirements.
We believe that a review of the fare structure by the Land
Transport Authority (LTA) is incomplete without a corresponding
review of the rental issue.
Appeals by the National Taxi Association to the taxi operators
to review rental thus far have only led to the shrugging of
shoulders.
Yes, we can switch taxi operators to get what we deem as a
better deal in terms of taxi rental cost.
However, these agreements are ultimately drafted by the
operators and we can only be the price takers.
As long as the system stays this
way, the conditions are unlikely to improve for us.
Nonetheless, we will press on and we are confident that we will
display the same resilience we did during the recent haze and
previous Sars crises.
A little help will go a long way though, and we hope the LTA
will help enhance the operating environment to ensure a fairer
level playing field for all parties involved.
Gerald Chan
President
National Taxi Association