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		Maria Almenoar & Liaw Wy-Cin Tue, Dec 18, 2007 The Straits Times
Fewer passengers, calls but more taxis in city
SOME commuters skipped their regular taxi ride into the city yesterday morning, the first day of higher fares charged by the biggest cab company ComfortDelGro. Cabbies interviewed said they had fewer fares, in particular during the morning peak hours from 7am to 9.30am, which attract a new surcharge amounting to 35 per cent of the metered fare, compared to a $2 flat fee previously. Cabby Tan Cheng Hee, 51, said: 'Normally during peak periods I pick up seven to eight passengers but today there were three to four fewer passengers. I can understand that passengers might want to avoid the 35 per cent peak premium.

Overall, there were fewer bookings, too, yesterday morning for ComfortDelGro, which has 15,000 taxis.

Compared to a typical Monday, calls went down by one-fifth in the first few hours of yesterday, said ComfortDelgro spokesman Tammy Tan, who added: 'That said, we do expect knee-jerk fall based on experience.'

Not quite expected, however, was for SMRT, which has 3,000 cabs, to also see a drop yesterday, since its fares have not changed yet. It received 100 fewer calls per hour from 7am to 9am, compared to last Monday.

SMRT and four other cab companies will be raising fares over the next two weeks, with one of the four, Prime Taxis, limiting its fare hike to just the city surcharge.

Some commuters, who make up what transport researchers describe as 'marginal demand', found ComfortDelGro's higher fares, including the $2.80 flag-down, up from $2.50, and costlier metered fares and city surcharges, enough reason to move from taxi to bus or train.

Commuters had said as much, going by an online poll on The Straits Times website over the past week.

Of the 60 responses received, seven said they would still take taxis but reduce their frequency.

But so far, the drop in customers making taxi bookings has not resulted in a drop in takings for cabbies.

The Taxi Operators' Association said that a random check among members found that drivers have been able to get slightly more earnings due to the fare increase.

'The rainy weather today has also contributed to the demand for taxis, too,' said a spokesman for the association, which represents cab drivers from the different companies.

Besides helping to raise the income of cabbies, yesterday's fare increase also appears to have achieved its desired effect of luring more taxis into the city during evening peak hours - when commuters say it is hardest to get a cab.

Waiting time at Lucky Plaza in Orchard Road, for example, was about 10 minutes between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. Even at 11pm at Ngee Ann City, usually a tough time and place to catch a taxi, there was a steady stream of cabs.

Cab operators have increased their city surcharge from $1 to $3 from 5pm to midnight.

Cabbies said they had more reason to head to town, even if they were empty, because they were wasting more diesel cruising around the suburbs looking for passengers.

One cabby related how he drove around Ang Mo Kio for one hour but found no passengers.

Another cabby with 20 years' experience said that he got fed up after spending half an hour in Bukit Panjang looking for a passenger.

'I came to the city because I knew I would have better luck here,' he said in Mandarin.

mariaa@sph.com.sg

wycin@sph.com.sg