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LTA: Guidelines for car pooling in the works


Darthrevan
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If a car owner receives payment from those who car pool with him, is he operating a pirate taxi service? Or is he merely in an arrangement similar to when people split the bill for a meal?

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is expected to come up with an answer as an increasing number pay for car pooling services, as an alternative to public transport and car ownership.
A number of car pooling sites have already sprouted. Among the latest and most prominent is ShareTransport.sg, which has been pairing car-poolers with car owners for the past 20 months.
It says it has 15,000 users now, and expects to exceed 20,000 next year.
The LTA has been keeping an eye on the development for about two years now, but has not come out with rules on payment.
"LTA is supportive of car pooling as it provides greater transport choices to the commuting public. We are working on guidelines to mitigate any potential abuse of car pooling as illegal taxi services," a spokesman said.
Mr Moh Hon Meng, 44, who started ShareTransport.sg in March last year, said simple rules might include requiring that drivers have full-time jobs, and not rely on car pooling payments as their main source of income.
Also, rides must be "on the way" - meaning, if car owners live in Hougang and work in Shenton Way, they cannot drop someone off in Jurong.
And charges should be based on a "cost recovery" principle and not a profit-making one.
"Even if we have altruistic drivers who are all willing to give free rides, passengers would not want to take them, because they will feel bad. The passengers actually want to pay their share," said technopreneur Moh, who co-founded online unit trust distributor Fundsupermart.com more than 10 years ago.
A driver stands to recoup up to $600 a month in costs by offering car pooling services, he added.
ShareTransport.sg user Kimberley Ang, 46, said she used the service for about a year.
"I paid $5 for a ride from my home in Sengkang to PSA Building in Alexandra Road. A cab ride would cost $26," she said.
"It's convenient, it's safe, and I made friends along the way."
The marketing manager however, has stopped car pooling since changing jobs recently.
There is no match yet for a driver going from Sengkang to Pandan Loop, her new place of work. She put that down to not enough people knowing about car pooling.
"It's a great idea, but there's not enough awareness yet. Which is strange, because in the old days, people used to car pool to get into the CBD," she said, referring to the time when cars with four occupants or more could enter the city centre without paying for an area-licensing coupon.
That was dropped in 1994, when drivers began picking up passengers from bus stops.
On the flip side, some observers believe taxi drivers are likely to complain if car pooling becomes more prevalent.
"For obvious reasons, this will not go down well with cabbies," said veteran taxi driver Tony Pang, 63.
Another cabby Victor Yow, 67, however, said car pools will not be a threat.
"They are likely to operate during peak hours, when there are more commuters than taxis can cater to."
Still, car-poolers feel the LTA should come out with clear, enforceable rules to separate those who share rides from those who run illegal cab operations.
Said Mr Moh, whose site also lets people share a cab or even a bus: "It should be clear what car pooling is, and what providing a transport service is."
Car pooling is catching on in a big way in America, Europe and parts of Asia.
Mr Brian Hsu, a 32-year-old New Zealand-based Taiwanese who runs a software business in China, hosts Carpool King, which offers car pool listings in Singapore and a few other places in the region.
Mr Hsu said: "I started Carpool King in 2007. I was commuting and got stuck in traffic jams every day. When I looked around, most vehicles were single-occupant ones like mine. So I started this service for financial, societal and environmental benefits."
Of the 15,000-plus registered Carpool King users, nearly 5,000 are in Singapore.
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You gotta admit, the carpooling site is very innovative.

Now G see liow eye red. Buay tahan, opportunity for them to make free money --> licensing!

Greedy buggers!

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Its a private deal between the driver n passengers. Participants should just take care of things and not turn it into a commercial affair where lots of restrictions n controls are likely to kick in. Instead of using money in exchange for the rides, why not do it on an 'In kind' basis?

 

Btw, ad-hoc car pooling has been used in 80s when a driver picked up casual passengers for free from bus stops towards CBD so that he could drive into CBD without having to pay the equivalent of ERP charges.

Edited by Maseratigood
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To be fair, I don't think there's a problem of government see already red eye.

 

"LTA is supportive of car pooling as it provides greater transport choices to the commuting public. We are working on guidelines to mitigate any potential abuse of car pooling as illegal taxi services."

 

The people who run LTA are assessed on how well they manage the whole transport infrastructure. Money is not going to them if taxis get more business. Of course, some half baked scholar's idea may morph into a "car pool permit" renewable at $500 per annum or something.

 

The people who run taxi companies do have a lot to lose. But they can't possibly fulfill the transport system's needs, so they have limited standi.

 

Before anyone comes and accuse them of being "one big family", I think it really doesn't work that way. The extent to which individual departments jealously guard their portfolios cannot be underestimated. I'm happy that LTA supports car pooling. I'm just hoping whatever guidelines they come up with don't screw it up like MDA's recent regulations.

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Maybe LTA will buyout the current car pool websites. IMO that's an effective way to monitor the situation and charge ppl money for using the website. Huat ah!

Edited by Watwheels
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Lets see what brilliant idea LTA is going to come up with! Haven't got a good laugh for some time.

In any case, be prepared to give part of the pie to the coven.

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To be fair, I don't think there's a problem of government see already red eye.

 

"LTA is supportive of car pooling as it provides greater transport choices to the commuting public. We are working on guidelines to mitigate any potential abuse of car pooling as illegal taxi services."

 

The people who run LTA are assessed on how well they manage the whole transport infrastructure. Money is not going to them if taxis get more business. Of course, some half baked scholar's idea may morph into a "car pool permit" renewable at $500 per annum or something.

 

The people who run taxi companies do have a lot to lose. But they can't possibly fulfill the transport system's needs, so they have limited standi.

 

Before anyone comes and accuse them of being "one big family", I think it really doesn't work that way. The extent to which individual departments jealously guard their portfolios cannot be underestimated. I'm happy that LTA supports car pooling. I'm just hoping whatever guidelines they come up with don't screw it up like MDA's recent regulations.

 

Heeheeheee, you're a funny guy. Your first time in Singapore?

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From CNA,

 

"...But stakeholders feel that taxi companies can do more to ensure supply meets commuters’ demands.

Between January and September this year, Comfort, CityCab and SMRT consistently had at least 70 per cent of their taxis on the roads during peak periods."

 

So actually there are more cabs than passengers but only 70% on the roads during peak hours. The rest are just waiting for advance booking or booking to come in. I see queues at taxi stand but yet easy to get cab through booking.

 

So for LTA to "regulate" the car pooling, they have to go through so many stakeholers... $5 for car pooling compare to $26 for taxi fare how do you regulate?

 

They are not charging high because they are not commercial, and enough to recover fuel cost. Then with this "exposure" / "awareness" I guess the next one to jump in will be Insurance Company...

 

If you drive as a member of a car pool, your auto insurance company has already given you the green light in its standard contract as long as you make no money from it. Though you can say $5 per pax is not much but it is still making money technically.

 

So thanks again for the "Awareness"...

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Supersonic

Thinking anyone have try out the car pooling service provided by various websites, whether you are as a driver or passenger?

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