Taxi fare hikes

The recent taxi fare hikes raised the price of a cab ride by 5~35%. The Straits Times yesterday gave a 10KM taxi fare comparison table, together with the equivalent number of McDonald's Big Macs.

The fare in Singapore is U$6.2 (non-peak) / U$8.35 (peak), still lower than that in Taipei (U$9.20) and Hong Kong (U$10.20) but higher or much higher than fares in other Asia cities e.g. Beijing (U$3.40), Bangkok (U$2.00), Jakarta (U$2.10~2.65) or Kuala Lumpur (U$4.00~6.00).

The revised taxi fare is summarized below (for major companies e.g. Comfort, CityCab, SMRT and Yellow-top):

• Flagdown fare $2.80 for <=1 KM
• Booking fee $2.50~5.20 depending on if advanced or busy hours
• Meter fare $0.20 per 385m / 330m (>10KM) or 45sec. waiting
• Peak hours (0700-0930 & 1700-2000) 35% of metered fare
• Late nights (0000-0559) 50% of metered fare
• Other surcharge $1 ~ $5 for holiday, CBD or locations e.g. airport

Although cab companies are optimistic that the recent fare changes will raise drivers' incomes, cabbies complain that passengers are disappearing during morning and evening rush hours due to the 35% surcharge. A story on today's newspaper said that some cabbies waive the peak hour surcharge attempting to attract more passengers. They display "Not 35% surcharge for peak hours" or yell out "Taxi, taxi, no surcharge" while touting at bus stops.

Prime Taxis (Tel: 6778 0808) has not raised the taxi fare so far. Their peak hour surcharge remains at $2 for now.