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Source: https://www.todayonline.com/news/number-taxi-private-hire-drivers-grew-much-faster-ridership-resulting-lower-earnings-amy-khor-2481191 By Justin Ong Guang-Xi Published September 10, 2024 Updated September 10, 2024 SINGAPORE — With the recent increase in taxis and private-hire cars, the earnings of these drivers have “moderated” as passenger demand has not risen as much, said Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor. Between the second quarter of 2023 and the second quarter of this year, the number of active private-hire cars and taxis rose by 8 per cent. However, the average daily number of passenger trips increased by only 1 per cent during the same period. “That obviously means that some drivers will see a decline in earnings,” Dr Khor said in parliament on Tuesday (Sept 10) in response to questions about supply and demand in the point-to-point transport sector. She noted that average surge prices and net ride-hail fares had declined in the first half of 2023 from a peak at the start of that year. Prices are now back to levels seen in the first half of 2022. This echoes the concerns of private-hire car drivers that CNA spoke to last month. Grab and Gojek drivers said they noticed a dip in their incomes over the past six months, citing factors such as a fall in the number of passengers, as well as an increase in competition from other platforms. Grab said at the time that the income dip is "seasonal". Dr Khor said on Tuesday that point-to-point fares are also subject to seasonal fluctuations in demand. She noted, for instance, that in months when there are major events such as the Taylor Swift and Coldplay concerts, or during festive periods such as Chinese New Year, there tends to be an increase in travel among locals and visitors, which leads to higher demand and higher fares. “Conversely, demand tends to decline during the school holidays when many Singaporeans are abroad,” she said. “These seasonal effects are another source of fluctuations in drivers’ income.” FARES DECIDED BY DEMAND AND SUPPLY While the authorities watch developments in the point-to-point sector closely, they do not set fares as these are determined by transport operators based on market competition, said Dr Khor. “We also do not cap the number of P2P (point-to-point) drivers, but instead allow the supply of P2P drivers to move in tandem with commuter demand and price signals,” she said. Thus, the appropriate level of supply for the sector depends on commuter demand and the fares they are willing to pay, she said. "When demand is higher and fares increase, we can expect more drivers to enter the market. Conversely, when there is excess supply of drivers, fares will drop and some drivers may decide to exit the market," she added. MP Desmond Choo (PAP-Tampines) asked Dr Khor on her ministry’s views on how they can support drivers during periods of contracted low fares, where anecdotally, some drivers have reported an over 30 per cent drop in earnings in the past six months. She responded that this dip in earnings needs to be taken “into context” — that there were periods such as at the end of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022, as well as during festive periods and concerts early this year, where demand was high and drivers earned more. “Hence, I think it is really important to really look at the total earnings across time instead of just lower fare periods,” she said. Dr Khor added that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will continue to look at ways to support the “smooth and efficient functioning of the market”. These include measures to reduce operating costs, such as the extension of statutory lifespan for taxis which was announced earlier this year. “The operators should pass through these cost savings to drivers via lower rentals,” she said.

TL;DR - GetGo driver thinks he’s in Tokyo Drift and crashes into 3 cars. Learns there are consequences to his actions. Prayers for the original poster of this video for keeping his cool. I know I wouldn’t if I was in his position. Read on to see why. What happened? On 18th April in a Punggol multi-storey car park, a 23 year old GetGo driver was speeding at 50km/h and hit 3 cars that were parked together. We can see that a Kia Cerato, Mitsubishi Outlander and a van that looks like a Toyota Hiace were the victims, with the first two taking the brunt of the impact. The original poster of this incident was the owner of one of the cars. The Facebook post stated that the owner was happily spring cleaning his house with Hari Raya songs at full blast when he suddenly heard a loud bang and car alarms. He learnt that the GetGo driver was daydreaming as he was speeding, and made him call his father down as he seemed scared and was a “23 year old kid”. The original poster ended with a quote saying "No one got hurt. Heartbreak only. I held back my tears, the car is my baby." Bless this owner, I hope he can get his car fixed. We have no infomation on the identity of the GetGo driver, if he was intoxicated while driving, or if the original poster would be compensated for his repairs. Online chatter People brought to attention that the driver was 23 and an adult, not a kid and should be able to understand consequences of speeding in a carpark. Others noted how common it is to find such drivers behind the wheel of private hire vehicles. ========= Be the first to get the latest road/ COE news and get first dibs on exclusive promos and giveaways in our Telegram SGCM Community. Join us today!

Molester used private-hire car services to find victims source: https://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore/molester-used-private-hire-car-services-find-victims One distressed woman cut and burned herself while trapped with man, who was jailed for almost six years Yesterday, Muhammad Hafiz Maksah, 27, dubbed a "clear danger to the public" by the prosecution, was jailed for five years and 10 months and given six strokes of the cane. He pleaded guilty via video-link yesterday to three molest charges involving three victims. Another charge linked to a fourth victim and one count of criminal intimidation were taken into consideration. The former Grab driver made use of unregulated private-hire car services to look for victims and violated them at secluded spots. Suspended by Grab sometime after Aug 7 last year, he went on Telegram chat group Ride Kakis to seek riders. Ride Kakis is an unregulated ride-sharing platform where rider and driver can negotiate a price for the ride. On Oct 11 last year, Hafiz molested his first victim, a 21-year-old student. After picking her up at 7.15pm, he stopped at a Circuit Road carpark with the front passenger door very close to the wall. He told her he wanted to be friends and molested her. She threw $10 at him, squeezed out of the door and fled. About nine hours later, around 5am the next day, a 20-year-old woman messaged to book a ride. After picking her up in Jurong, he lied about having to make a detour to meet a friend and took her to a Jurong West carpark, where he repeatedly tried to get her to kiss him and took away her phone. Feeling distressed, the woman got out of the car and picked up a shard of glass to cut herself, hoping he would let her go. When that failed, she tried to climb over the carpark ledge, but Hafiz pulled her back into the car and locked the doors. She continued to harm herself by burning her left hand with a lighter and banging her head against the car window. But he molested her and said he wanted to have sex with her. When he told her to suck his toes, she complied in desperation. He molested her again after she refused to have sex with him. Her ordeal ended only after he dropped her home at 10.30am. Both victims made a police report that day. Ride Kakis was suspended soon after. On March 16 this year, while under investigation, Hafiz molested a 21-year-old woman who booked a ride with him on SG Hitch - Premium, which is similar to Ride Kakis. Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Thiagesh Sukumaran told the court all three victims were greatly distressed and developed fears towards private-hire vehicles and taxis. Calling for a sufficiently deterrent sentence, he said: "The accused is a serial offender who targeted victims within hours of each other. The offences were extensively planned, and the accused's conduct caused significantly high levels of distress to the victims." For molesting the second victim who was restrained, Hafiz could have been jailed for up to 10 years and caned. For the other molest charges, he could have been jailed for up to two years and fined or caned.

Must be sgrean and 30+ liao https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/private-hire-drivers-must-be-citizens-at-least-30-years-old-lta

New ride-hailing firm FastGo to launch in Singapore SINGAPORE - A nine-month-old Vietnamese start-up is hoping to carve a place for itself in Singapore's ride-hailing scene, currently dominated by industry giants Grab and Gojek. FastGo announced on Wednesday (March 20) that it aims to launch services here at the end of next month, and will begin registering drivers on April 1. The initial fleet size here will be at least 3,000 cars on the roads, FastGo Singapore country manager Diep Nguyen told The Straits Times. The firm currently operates in Vietnam and Myanmar, and plans to launch in five other countries in the region - such as Indonesia and the Philippines - by the end of 2019. Ms Nguyen said the firm invests an initial sum of about US$3 million ($4 million) in each new market. Referring to competition from Grab and Gojek, she said FastGo was "competing with them well" and that it would learn from its rivals' "experience and weaknesses to provide good policies and services for commuters and drivers". FastGo also intends to collaborate with taxi operators here, she added. In response to queries, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesman said: "We are working with FastGo to help them understand and operate in accordance to the local regulatory requirements." The LTA spokesman added that all prospective private-hire car booking service operators must comply with existing regulatory requirements before being allowed to operate here. FastGo aims to differentiate itself from Grab and Gojek - which collect a fee of about 20 per cent per fare from drivers - by charging them a daily subscription fee of less than US$5 if a driver's income exceeds US$30 a day. National Private Hire Vehicles Association executive adviser Ang Hin Kee said: "Collecting subscription fees is one novel way of recruiting drivers, but the litmus test is ease of getting commuters and collecting good earnings." He added: "If they can do more for drivers, such as providing insurance coverage and helping with Medisave, it will enhance their attractiveness and assure commuters that this new app has a big pool of drivers to serve their needs." Others, however, are sceptical about FastGo's chances. "It really depends on how much resources they can put in," said Singapore University of Social Sciences urban transport expert Park Byung Joon. "If they not have much resources to attract more drivers, it will be just another small storm in a tea cup." FastGo aims to raise US$50 million in the coming months to fund its regional expansion plans. In comparison, Grab recently announced it had secured some $2 billion in funding. Said Associate Professor Park: "Unless they (FastGo) can give more to drivers and commuters than Grab, it will be tough for them to compete." https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/new-ride-hailing-firm-fastgo-to-debut-here-in-april so any promo code ?

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/despite-looming-deadline-34000-private-hire-car-drivers-yet-obtain-vocational-licence Possible further downward pressure on COE?

Will it push COE prices back up? Will it draw its fleet from LCR? https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/03/go-jek-singapore/

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/transport/south-east-asian-rivals-go-jek-and-grab-to-face-off-in-singapore-as-uber-exits?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook&xtor=CS1-10 The battle for a slice of South-east Asia's ride-hailing market is set to heat up, as two billion-dollar homegrown players brace themselves for expansion following the exit of Uber. A week after Singapore-based Grab announced it was acquiring Uber's business in South-east Asia, Indonesian technology company Go-Jek has been reaching out to former Uber drivers in greater Jakarta, while making plans to expand its services to Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. Here we go again. One down, another one up. Same as our Telco. In the end, everything is monopolised by the Government. Singapore's market is too controlled and too small for long term sustainability and growth. What's next?

Berry Good. About time.... decal is Tamper Evident