SINGAPORE: Transport analysts have suggested
that small to medium-sized taxi operators consider integrating
operations, especially on
call-booking.
This comes after
news that Smart Cab will not have its operator licence renewed, as
it failed to meet Land Transport Authority's (LTA's)
requirements.
For example, the
company did not meet the minimum rate for successfully matching
call bookings with
taxis.
Assoc Prof Lee
Der Horng, transport researcher at the National University of
Singapore, said: "The call booking requires fairly extensive
financial resources.
"On the other
hand, even if you have that kind of financial resources to set up
your call-booking centre, if your fleet size is not (big) enough,
then (it's still likely) that your call booking matching rate
cannot satisfy the government's
regulation.
"So if the
different companies can coordinate with each other in terms of the
financial resources, and also in terms of their fleet availability,
then I think -- either to the operators themselves or to the
passengers -- it's good
news."
Meanwhile
another company -- Prime Taxi -- which has a fleet of 907 cabs,
said it plans to buy over Smart Cab's operations and hire more
drivers.
As rental rates
of its hybrid vehicles are fairly low, Prime Taxi said it is
confident of the move.
However, it
added that it feels constrained by the government's requirement of
a two per cent annual growth rate for taxi fleets -- by the end of
the year.
Neo Chee Yong,
deputy general manager of Prime Taxi, said: "Looking at the market
situation, our population and our tourist arrivals are expected to
increase. So this two per cent will not be sufficient. We hope that
the government will give us, taxi operators, a bigger space to
expand our fleets to cater to this increasing
demand."
