Monday, June 29, 2009 0:21
Taxis perform disappearing act – again
In Quotes • 734 views • 21 Comments
Some taxis are holding back from joining the queues at Changi Airport just before 5pm on weekends so that they can collect the higher surcharges which kick in after that time.
Said a coordinator at Terminal 3 who did not want to be named: ‘We wave at them to come forward but some will just ignore us and stay put.’
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21 Comments
Self employed decision maker
A Tan
Good for them
Gaming the system — juz like the rest of us.
Star7
By implementing this system (more charges after 5), they should have seen this coming.
It is common sense and logic that everyone wants to earn more money, if they failed to see this happening, maybe the management should consider CHANGING the people implementing this type of nonsense.
lobo76
I was at Liang Court last weekend..and wow.. the number of taxis there is incredible. Up and past the point where the U turn is.
i wonder which part of the ’system’ they are gaming to make so many of them go there? Maybe it the not so legal ‘fixed price’ system?
blackfeline
well…i thought “they” said we have the system in order..after all the adjustment? At the end of the day..it’s all about $ and cents…stupid!
relief taxi driver
Hey the above quote sounds damn familiar when I think of PM Lee.
At least the taxi drivers reappear after a few minutes to make the extra bucks but our PM can disappear for days, maybe weeks, and can anyone recall getting a chance to wave for him to return ? Perhaps time for a similar coordinator to wave and attract attention of our PM also. lol
market incentives working at its finest
what to do, it has happened – market incentives working at its finest. hip hip hooray. next, any suggestions for further surcharges.
fourties
As always, our govt people only knows how to use Money to solve problem. And now it becomes another vicious circle. Now they probably will offer another percent for those who come in before 5pm. This will spiral cost again…..治标不治本。。。。。。。
unintended consequences ???
“Now they probably will offer another percent for those who come in before 5pm. This will spiral cost again…..治标不治本。。。。。。。”
aiyah, with such compact, congested & competitive environment, another layer of price mechanism will probably add to another layer of unintended consequences which no one can really forsee.
mice is nice
work smart, den don’t need to work too hard?
can’t deny it makes business sense what…
anakin
Woah….now LTA will implement $5 surcharge at all times coz lack of taxis at airport will ruin Changi Airport’s reputation. Just wait and see.
SZ
It is a neverending cycle…the so called fix that they implement will cause another problem, and to solve that problem, they will implement a solution that involves more $$$ and it will just revolve
Driver
When majority of the Taxi drivers are behaving that way, something is wrong with the system, not the drivers!
Oversea Uncle
I say scrap all the various add-on charges and just charge by the distance. As it is the charging system is so complicated that the passenger does not know what the add-ons are like when he board the taxi.
Every tweak of the fare system is to cure the symptom but not the cause. The PTC (or whatever) must work harder and come up with a better system. At the moment, every problem seems to use money to solve! Those highly paid guys always use “money solutions” since they do not have any accountablity.
rvian
Situation like this is nothing more than policy flaws and system failure. Don’t blame the taxi driver, they are playing by the rules of the game created by ’smart’ policy makers.
worldcrass
its the bloody policy, stupid. courtesy of rich scholars and civil servants who are absolutely out of touch.
on a separate issue, head honcho of smrt has said in a recent cnbc interview that they had tried done very well in increasing frequencies of train. yeah right.
prettyplace
Smart taxi drivers…..they need to eat too…..
At times I get angry at them…but more so because of my time….not the fare….trying driving in S’pore just for a few hours it’s crazy….and these taxi drivers do it for the whole day or night….
Most of them are closed up now too…they used to talk so much and share stories…but now they are just too scared…to offend anyone….
As long as they know the route well and drive safe….
Take it easy guys….make all you can….it’s Singapore…
SpeedWeed
the taxi companies need to reduce their rental.
this is bad times, with more surcharges, just means less people will take taxis.
the taxi companies dont suffer, the cabbies do.
so they’re doing what they can to maximize their earnings with the least amount of petrol wasted!
taxi drivers need to eat too!
charge a flat fee. reduce taxi rentals! but with our dear GIC linked Companies running the show.
PIGS WILL SOONER FLY!
whiteraven
LTA shld remove the surcharge policy. That is the root cause of these greedy taxidrivers. Complain when businesses are bad; but quietly cheat when it’s in their favour. Taxi drivers have the worst reputation cf. with politicians and used car salesmen. HK and Taiwan never had surcharges, and patrons and taxi operators are both happy and contented. Here taxidrivers want to win all the time at yr expense. Why aren’t the authorities taking tough measures against these pick and choose taxidrivers?
Alas!
It’s just business. You might have to vary the cut of time base on flight arrivals.
mice is nice
we need more complex system of fare charges, so complex that tourists feel like they kenna conned, locals complain no use wan, foreigners words carry more weight, especially business travellers.

u simply cannot blame them for making a good business decision..