Thanks for the insight but do you really think 35% is
exhorbitant? to you maybe and to all those who cheong the MRTs and
the buses but there are a select few who still prefer taking taxis.
why? coz they hate to squeeze with the others.
You and KC are lookin at the long term effects , but next year
there is goin to be the IR and the RWS at sentosa and many many
more which will perk up demand.
By then taxis will be in such hot demand that those who support
a cut in fares will be left wondering if it ever should be done.
coz they will making more trips for lesser money , get stuck in the
jams and get paid lesser.
I gather you are an orchard goer thats why u see tonnes of cabs
queuing outside the shopping malls , why dont u try being at
shenton way from 630 pm to 715 pm , then come and gauge whether the
demand is there or not. You cant juz look at one place where many
cabs are queuing and say ohhhh long queue of taxis , times are bad,
ridership is down
If it's not exorbitant, then ST won't have published this.
Goes to show that demand for taxis are elastic, but who am I to
say so, you are in the industry you should know better. I suggest
raising the fares another 50%-100%, so that taxi drivers can make
more by driving less. Don't worry, there are others out there that
will still feel taxi fares are cheap after this 100% increase and
they are the ones that don't want to squeeze on the MRTs and buses.
I am all for keeping the existing fares and even increasing it
another 100%, believe me, I am on your side. Better still if they
increase 200%.
Taxi ridership
falls
FEWER people are taking taxis, but despite this, cabbies are
against cutting fares to bring back the passengers.
This is not the way to boost business and help drivers, said
Comfort Taxi Operators' Association president Nah Tua Bah and
CityCab Taxi Operators' Association president Robin Ng, speaking on
behalf of five taxi operators here.
They noted that cabbies were making less daily now because fewer
people were taking taxis, but said lower fares - besides further
chipping away at drivers' incomes - did not guarantee the commuters
would come back.
Some commuters, however, think differently. Civil servant Liew
Nam Fatt, 40, who takes taxis four times a week, said he would do
so more often if the peak-hour surcharge was cut.
'Of course I will take cabs if they were cheaper. That is a
natural commuter reaction, isn't it?'
But there are also commuters like undergraduate Clarissa Chua,
21, who has declared she will stay away from taxis unless the fares
come down - improbably - by half.
The numbers confirm a fall in the number of passengers: Taxis
provided 10.9 million rides for the whole of last year, a 4 per
cent fall from 2007, when there were 11.3 million rides.
On a monthly basis last year, January, October and November
logged fewer than 900,000 rides each. No month in 2007 went below
this number.
The slump has hit drivers' earnings: The Straits Times
understands that a driver who clocks 10 hours a day earned about
$2,250 last November, 6 per cent less than the previous month.
Those who drove a 'double shift', that is, more than 10 hours,
took a bigger hit - their incomes shrank 8 per cent to $4,700 in
November.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_341184.html