Tuesday, December 04, 2007

Measures to improve the taxi service

It was reported that taxi drivers are asking for a fare hike to compensate for their higher oeprating cost, due to higher price of diesel and ERP charges.

I sympathesize with the plight of the taxi drivers, as they have to work long hours to make a living.

Apart from higher fares, I suggest that we should look into ways to improve the efficiency of our taxi usage. Some taxi drivers are reluctant to ply in certain areas, in case they are not able to find a passenger to pick up the ERP charges. This is inefficent usage of taxis.

I suggest the following measures:

1. Increase the flag down and distance fare to compensate for the higher operating cost.
2. Reduce the calling fee, to encourage more commuters to call a taxi by telephoneand reduce the need for a taxi to ply the road to look for a passenger.
3. Allow a taxi to pay a flat daily fee, in lieu of ERP charges.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Why not consider setting a

1. flat-rate salary for taxi-drivers,
2. a quota-system for minimal maintenance,
3. additional monetary incentives for doing better than minimal

Yes, basic principle is let the taxi companies take the basic costs of the vehicle and reward hardworking taxi-drivers.

Everyone is blaming taxi drivers for doing this and that. It is stupid. The people laughing all the way to the bank are the taxi companies. The taxi companies are the ones who created the problems in the first place - they set the benchmark for the operating costs.

Taxi and bus companies are public transport companies. They are not there to make big profits at the expense of consumers. How I define big profits - revenue above 5% of operating costs is big profits.

December 04, 2007 10:20 AM

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