Singapore time 9.19 am 18th January 2008
With recent taxi fare increase in Singapore, many Singaporeans are avoiding taxi services. With less demand, some taxi frivers will have to give up the trade. In the end, taxi companies have to bear the cost of taxis not rented out. These taxis have to be snowballed in storage and license delisted. When demand increase, they can be listed again.
The way the authority regulating taxi services is not good. They think in term of taxes government can collect but not the hardship of taxi drivers. Taxi driving now is not a good trade as it is more health problem prone. Many taxi drivers have some form of sickness.
As ownership of taxi is phasing out, the trade is no different from working for others. So most drivers will give up and in the end, taxi drivers will be foreigners. I think the authority does not want to see this.
Taxi driving is a self employed trade, so there is no day off, medical leave, holiday leave etc. The more hours they ply on the road, the moree they money they make. Also the more they can get sick. With ample driving hours and some rest, they should reasonably make at least S$15000 a month. Those who want to make more than S$3,000 a month is courting death or early serious illness.
Showing posts with label Transportation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Transportation. Show all posts
Friday, 18 January 2008
Wednesday, 4 July 2007
Taxi Woes
Singapore time 11.35 am 4th July 2007
So much complains are voiced in newspaper forum and other forums against the bad shape of taxi situation in Singapore.
To remedy the solution, the government should let more free play to individuals who want to own their taxis. Presently most taxis are controlled by companies, with some yellow top private taxis still plying. The latter will die off once the owner retires or dies.
When taxi driver rent the cab from the company, he seldom take care of the taxi. His main objective is to make as much money as possible in his shift. So taxi is overworked and rough handed. Damage is mount to occur so repair has to be covered, therefore rental will be high.
However for ownership taxi, the taxi driver will take good care of the taxi so his repair cost will be minimum. Just look at the situation in Hong Kong. I think majority of the cabs there are under ownership scheme rather than under company control. So the service there should be better.
In Singapore, the government think otherwise. They want their own cronies to own taxis so profit goes to them. Lately small companies join the taxi fleets but how are they going to compete with the biggest taxi operator, the ComfortDelgro which owns almost 16,000 taxis out of the 21,000 or so taxis in Singapore.
The attitude of present day taxi driver is just to make profit for himself. He does not have to bear the repair cost, as long as he make good money, he can work the taxi 24 hours a day if he can. Sharp cornering can cause suspension damage and tire wear off one sided. Inproper change of gear can cause the gear to damage faster. There are other inproper driving that cause damag to the cab.
Taxi owner usually take good care of his taxi and will scold the relief driver if the relief drives inproperly. He can even sack him. In this manner his overall cost a month will be low, so he can still make good money with a tip top condition cab.
If the government still want to control too much of taxi transportation, the taxi woe in Singapore can never end.
So much complains are voiced in newspaper forum and other forums against the bad shape of taxi situation in Singapore.
To remedy the solution, the government should let more free play to individuals who want to own their taxis. Presently most taxis are controlled by companies, with some yellow top private taxis still plying. The latter will die off once the owner retires or dies.
When taxi driver rent the cab from the company, he seldom take care of the taxi. His main objective is to make as much money as possible in his shift. So taxi is overworked and rough handed. Damage is mount to occur so repair has to be covered, therefore rental will be high.
However for ownership taxi, the taxi driver will take good care of the taxi so his repair cost will be minimum. Just look at the situation in Hong Kong. I think majority of the cabs there are under ownership scheme rather than under company control. So the service there should be better.
In Singapore, the government think otherwise. They want their own cronies to own taxis so profit goes to them. Lately small companies join the taxi fleets but how are they going to compete with the biggest taxi operator, the ComfortDelgro which owns almost 16,000 taxis out of the 21,000 or so taxis in Singapore.
The attitude of present day taxi driver is just to make profit for himself. He does not have to bear the repair cost, as long as he make good money, he can work the taxi 24 hours a day if he can. Sharp cornering can cause suspension damage and tire wear off one sided. Inproper change of gear can cause the gear to damage faster. There are other inproper driving that cause damag to the cab.
Taxi owner usually take good care of his taxi and will scold the relief driver if the relief drives inproperly. He can even sack him. In this manner his overall cost a month will be low, so he can still make good money with a tip top condition cab.
If the government still want to control too much of taxi transportation, the taxi woe in Singapore can never end.
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Merger Of Train Or Bus Companies
Singapore time: 1.27 pm 24th Apr 2007
The CEO of SBS Transit advocated the merger of MRT and merger of bus companies.
You Singaporeans still remember what PAP said when they merged the 3 bus companies in Singapore into SBS Bus ?
Problems still existed and they allowed Tibs to compete with SBS. Then came the SMRT and lately the North-East line which was awarded to SBS to manage. Then Tibs merged with SMRT.
This is the way the PAP government is treating Singaporeans like guinea pigs for them to experiment. They can say 1 thing at a time and say another thing at other time. So the merger of the 3 bus companies in the first place is totally wrong. It is simply they want to run the show and government profiting from it.
Transportation is quite complex as the demand and supply condition varies with the commuters. Just look at Hong Kong, the private sectors are running the buses and cabs. The government has less interference in the running of these companies.
Here in Singapore, most things are regulated. Even CEO of these companies are related to the government. They don't speak out loud their mind in public. I am quite surprise the CEO of SBS Transit came forward to give his advice.
When you say a policy to the people, these people trusted you what you say that it can work well. If you keep changing your policy and tell the people each time the reason because of 'time has changed', then what you say cannot be trusted. This is un-righteousness. Therefore your future actions and words cannot be implemented.
Just look at the number of Transport Ministers managing this portfolio. Most are failure, starting from Yong Geok Lin, the brother-in-law of Lee Kuan Yew to Yeo Ning Hong.
The CEO of SBS Transit advocated the merger of MRT and merger of bus companies.
You Singaporeans still remember what PAP said when they merged the 3 bus companies in Singapore into SBS Bus ?
Problems still existed and they allowed Tibs to compete with SBS. Then came the SMRT and lately the North-East line which was awarded to SBS to manage. Then Tibs merged with SMRT.
This is the way the PAP government is treating Singaporeans like guinea pigs for them to experiment. They can say 1 thing at a time and say another thing at other time. So the merger of the 3 bus companies in the first place is totally wrong. It is simply they want to run the show and government profiting from it.
Transportation is quite complex as the demand and supply condition varies with the commuters. Just look at Hong Kong, the private sectors are running the buses and cabs. The government has less interference in the running of these companies.
Here in Singapore, most things are regulated. Even CEO of these companies are related to the government. They don't speak out loud their mind in public. I am quite surprise the CEO of SBS Transit came forward to give his advice.
When you say a policy to the people, these people trusted you what you say that it can work well. If you keep changing your policy and tell the people each time the reason because of 'time has changed', then what you say cannot be trusted. This is un-righteousness. Therefore your future actions and words cannot be implemented.
Just look at the number of Transport Ministers managing this portfolio. Most are failure, starting from Yong Geok Lin, the brother-in-law of Lee Kuan Yew to Yeo Ning Hong.
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