Taxi drivers are bracing themselves for tougher times ahead, as
the economy continues on its downward swing.
And they also feel that the cash rebates announced by their taxi
operators, while better than nothing, would not help things
much.
Jeremy Koh has more.
Taxi ridership has been adversely affected by the downturn.
Prime Taxis driver Jeffrey Tan, for instance, said his takings
have dropped by 20 percent in recent months.
"Peak hour in the housing estate, i would say significant drop
lah. People tend not to take the taxis. Last time even with peak
hour, it's quite easy to get, but now not so, so we have to go to
town area."
Comfort taxi driver, Mr Pang, also said his takings have dropped
by 20 percent since last October.
"It's very hard to find people now. The call bookings are also a
lot less. You have to drive a long time to find passengers."
And after the Lunar New Year, when Singapore is expected to face
a wave of retrenchments, Mr Pang expects business to be even
worse.
"It's not like bus, you have to take bus anyway since it's the
cheapest transport. But for taxis, you only take it when you're in
a rush, or in an emergency. Unless you have money to spare,
otherwise you'll take the bus or MRT."
To help their drivers tide through these tough times, the
various taxi operators have decided to give out monthly cash
rebates to their drivers.
This ranges from about 25 dollars a month for Prime Taxis, to 51
dollars a month for ComfortDelGro.
But both Mr Pang and Mr Tan hope that more can be done.
"It's definitely a help, but without passengers, it'll be
useless."
"I won't think so much help also. It's something we take as extra,
that's all. I think the bottomline still, can they reduce the
rental?"
Taxi drivers have to fork out about 70 to 130 dollars a day for
their taxi rental.
Still, despite the tougher times ahead, Mr Tan said he's
prepared to ride out the downturn.
"At this moment, you want to find a job offer, another difficult
thing also. Maybe more hardworking, drive a bit longer hours."
Mr Pang also said he'll keep driving for as long as he can.
"When the economy is bad, you have no job and you don't want to
drive, what do you eat?"
--938Live