Are LTA and Taxi companies serious about saving the Taxi Industry?
The two biggest taxi companies here are going all out to encourage ridership during these troubling economic times. According to a recent Straits Times article, the average number of daily taxi trips fell to lowest it has been in five years. To help reverse the downward trend, ComfortDelGro is launching a four-month campaign to give away $280,000 in taxi vouchers.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel any sudden urge to take Taxi because of this new promotion. (Do leave me a comment here if you suddenly felt interested in taking taxi more frequently because of this promotion.) Please, good people from taxi companies and LTA, USE YOUR FREAKING BRAIN! Do you think people will be interested in taking taxi more frequently just to win more taxi vouchers? Wake up!!!
This initiative is part of the $1m that LTA set aside to help the taxi industry. I’ve blog about it previously and said how that $1m is not able to save the taxi industry. No amount of marketing, promotion or advertising is going to save the taxi industry. You are barking at the wrong tree. The problem is with the taxi fare, especially the ridiculous surcharges.
A major revamp on the taxi fares will work far better than this stupid promotion. Do away with the ridiculous 35% peak hour surcharge. Remove the ERP charges. Lower the taxi booking charges. People will start taking taxi again when it is cheaper, not when there is a chance to win some stupid taxi vouchers.
But how are the taxi drivers going to survive when their income is lowered by the cheaper taxi fares? Well, to begin with, they won’t survive if the fare remains the same. Reducing the taxi fares means increase in ridership, which might increase their earnings.
If taxi companies and LTA are serious about saving the taxi industry, they should help by reducing the taxi rental fee, taxi licensing fee and waiving the ERP charges for taxi. Else they can continue to dump our tax payers money into the sea with all these nonsense promotion that is not going to help at the end of the day.
Related posts:
6 Comments »
2 Pingbacks »
-
[...] ERPains, Trains & Automobiles – Dee Kay Dot As Gee: Are LTA and Taxi companies serious about saving the Taxi Industry? [...]
-
[...] ERPains, Trains & Automobiles – Dee Kay Dot As Gee: Are LTA and Taxi companies serious about saving the Taxi Industry? [...]
Leave a comment!
the taxi industry is ran under people who don’t take taxis
Since when were they ever interested in what we want? Always about getting more money from people.
.-= Nabilah Said´s last blog ..the nabbycat speaks =-.
Do away with the surcharges, except airport and midnight charges. Abolish call charges too. Then raise base fares to cut out the unnecessary demand. Reduce rentals too. That much we agree on, and basically everyone else too.
.-= xizor2000´s last blog ..Commentary – Personal Capacity? =-.
i take taxis cos i have to. ferrying 2 small kids from bishan-pasir ris is no joke especially now that the authorities have banned any drinking (even milk) on the mrt. and yes, the peak hr surcharge can really kill us!!! we try to travel before/after peak hour though. and i seriously think that taxi vouchers wont help a bit. wake up, LTA (and whoever’s involved)!
.-= norza´s last blog ..time =-.
Sometimes I have to take the cab to meet my wife (we park our car at her office) in the evenings when I am rushed for time – for a short distance from Capital Square to Marina Square (about 2km), the fare during peak hour (5pm to 8pm) costs me S$10!
Insane for a 3-min ride…
I think they may be trying to make more people take MRT.
Someone’s head will roll if more white elephants are found displayed outside the new MRT stations.
Wait.. since when do heads roll in SG? Not even when a limping terrorist escape thru toilet or $40billion flushed down the “toilet”!!