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A fare way to fix taxi woes

A fare way to fix taxi woes

chitchatboy

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blogentry-133713-0-61806900-1487240528_thumb.jpgTaxi giant ComfortDelGro says it wants to simplify cab fares. That can only be good news. There are close to 10 different flag-down rates, three different metered-fare structures, over 10 kinds of surcharges and eight types of phone-booking fees in Singapore.

 

The Government has tried to unravel the cab charge complexity that has in part driven commuters into the arms of private-hire operators like Uber and Grab. But it has made no headway. The ball, the Government decided, is in the court of operators.

 

ComfortDelGro, the largest of them, holds the key to a new fare structure. The others are too small to make an impact. But ComfortDelGro has never seen the need to change. It has enjoyed a dominance only recently threatened by the rise of private-hire firms.

 

A new survey commissioned by the Public Transport Council shows commuters are more satisfied with private-hire providers than traditional taxis. If the sampling is truly reflective of ground sentiment, it is damning. It means that in just over three years since Uber and Grab came onto the scene, they have garnered more satisfaction than taxis, which have been around for nearly a century.

 

As a country with the largest taxi population per capita among its peers, Singapore should not have room for a private-hire boom. Yet, the private-hire fleet has trebled in size since 2013 to rival that of cabs.

 

A seemingly unending source of funding and a knack for identifying gaps in taxi services have allowed private-hire firms to grow their presence.

 

A simpler fare system can help taxis turn the tide. First to go should be surcharges, which have led to yield-maximising behaviour. Taxis vanishing before midnight is a classic example. We cannot blame cabbies for behaving as any businessman would.

 

In Hong Kong, where cab fares are devoid of surcharges, cabbies are driven by only one goal: to be where customers are. In Singapore, their whereabouts are greatly influenced by surcharges.

 

ComfortDelGro, and indeed the authorities, must recognise this as a shortcoming, and fix it.

 

The following article is written by Christopher Tan, a Senior Transport Correspondent with The Straits Times.




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It would be an absolute irony if the 10 different flag-down rates, 3 different metered-fare structures, over 10 kinds of surcharges and 8 types of phone-booking fees were abolished, as it defeats the objectives why they were implemented in the very first place!!!

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It would be an absolute irony if the 10 different flag-down rates, 3 different metered-fare structures, over 10 kinds of surcharges and 8 types of phone-booking fees were abolished, as it defeats the objectives why they were implemented in the very first place!!!

In the first place, the objectives were wrong and lead to these Frankenstein surcharges..Now they're calling to correct these wrong objectives n remove the surcharges. Takes guts to call the scholars wrong, but it's the right thing to do.

 

To continue with the wrong initial objectives would unnecessarily burden all of us..

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 Takes guts to call the scholars wrong, but it's the right thing to do.

 

 

 

The scholars made an honest mistake. Let's move on.   : )

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The scholars made an honest mistake. Let's move on. : )

The scholars made an honest mistake. Let's move on. : )

Haha, we'll do an honest thing too n fire them for screwing things up for us, then we'll move on...

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Whatever the changes

ultimately either the taxi drivers or the public willwbe the one suffering

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Isn't this the problem with our country's entire system? 

 

Every major system we have in SG, is so complicated that many of us don't understand.  examples: COE, Car taxation scheme, CPF withdrawal, ERP charges, Property cooling measures, HDB balloting, PSLE exam, and even Primary 1 registration, and whole lot of other systems that have multi tier levels, that will only confuse users and customers.

 

How many of us actually fully understand, for example, our CPF withdrawal and car taxation? 

 

And who's to blame?  Gov't Scholars?  Ministers?  

 

The problem is they are always trying to fix a hole leaking water. And another hole appeared and they fix it again with another tier of policy.  So at the end of days, we get confusing rules and schemes. 

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Isn't this the problem with our country's entire system? 

 

Every major system we have in SG, is so complicated that many of us don't understand.  examples: COE, Car taxation scheme, CPF withdrawal, ERP charges, Property cooling measures, HDB balloting, PSLE exam, and even Primary 1 registration, and whole lot of other systems that have multi tier levels, that will only confuse users and customers.

 

How many of us actually fully understand, for example, our CPF withdrawal and car taxation? 

 

And who's to blame?  Gov't Scholars?  Ministers?  

 

The problem is they are always trying to fix a hole leaking water. And another hole appeared and they fix it again with another tier of policy.  So at the end of days, we get confusing rules and schemes. 

 

If they can't convince us, then confuse us!

 

Then they can get away with anyting they want, as we are either too confused to understand their convoluted reasonings, or dun bother to take the effort to... so they'll get away and we will all suffer more... time to change...this suffering cannot go on forever.. 

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If they can't convince us, then confuse us!

 

Then they can get away with anyting they want, as we are either too confused to understand their convoluted reasonings, or dun bother to take the effort to... so they'll get away and we will all suffer more... time to change...this suffering cannot go on forever.. 

 

 

Oh yeah, i forgot to mention our taxi surcharges too.  so many types of surcharges that customers can never understand. 

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Oh yeah, i forgot to mention our taxi surcharges too.  so many types of surcharges that customers can never understand. 

 

As long as the highly paid Scholars who implemented these complicated surcharges understand them, and meet their KPIs, will do!

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"...Taxi giant Comfort DelGro says it wants to simplify cab fares."

 

As the saying goes - EMPTY VESSELS MAKE THE MOST NOISE.

 

So much talk about simplifying taxi fares, but ironically, with hyprocrisy at its ultimate, "...from 8:00pm on 25 Feb '17 to 2:00am on 26 Feb '17, Comfort DelGro will impose a $10 location surcharge for pick up from Changi Exhibition Centre in view of Guns N Roses concert."

 

PUI !!! 

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"...Taxi giant Comfort DelGro says it wants to simplify cab fares."

 

As the saying goes - EMPTY VESSELS MAKE THE MOST NOISE.

 

So much talk about simplifying taxi fares, but ironically, with hyprocrisy at its ultimate, "...from 8:00pm on 25 Feb '17 to 2:00am on 26 Feb '17, Comfort DelGro will impose a $10 location surcharge for pick up from Changi Exhibition Centre in view of Guns N Roses concert."

 

PUI !!!

Exactly! When the money grabbing govt sees you hv no choice but still needs their services or goods, they will skin you deep deep for all of your money! You hv no choice or else dun drink water, dun go home or dun use electricity! They use all those so-called experts to justify and backup their irresponsible and inhumane fees hikes, to enslave us to ever increasing costs.. what better way to enslave the people than make them work their asses off to pay ever increasing costs? Win win for them! We must show enough is enough or else will be us digging our own graves..

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Empty Vessels make the most noise!

 

So much talk about "SIMPLIFYING" taxi fares.

 

Hyprocrisy at its ultimate!

 

 

ComfortDelGro is third taxi firm with plans to introduce surge pricing

 

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/comfortdelgro-is-third-taxi-firm-with-plans-to-introduce-surge-pricing?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&xtor=CS1-10#link_time=1488511512&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany

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