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Taxi flagdown rates going up

Taxi flagdown rates going up

Taxi fares are going up as cab companies introduce new car models.

Transport firm SMRT, which  operates the third-largest taxi fleet in Singapore, will be rolling out over 600 Toyota Priuses with a flagdown rate of $3.80 starting this Friday.

The rate is higher than the $3.50 and $3.70 charged respectively by Premier and Prime for their Prius cabs.

SMRT also brought up Hyundai Azera’s flagdown charge from $3.60 to $3.80 effective Tuesday.

The new rates follow the introduction of new rates by other cab companies.

Singapore’s largest taxi operator, ComfortDelGro, introduced its Hyundai i40 taxis last month with a flagdown fare of $3.70.

That is 50 cents higher than the flagdown cost of the Sonata, i40’s predecessor.

Within the next few years, the i40s are expected to replace the Sonatas, which account for more than 85 per cent of ComfortDelGro’s 27, 400 taxis.

The second largest cab company, Trans-Cab, introduced their Renault Latitude cabs two months ago at a flagdown cost of $3.90.

That is higher than the flagdown cost of the Chevrolet Epica, which is the same size as the Latitude. The flagdown rate of the Epica cab was raised by 20 cents to $3.60 a few weeks ago.

Tan Wei Jie, who cabs about once a week from his place in Woodlands to his grandparents' flat in Eunos, feels that cab companies are increasing the costs of taking a cab too often.

The 24-year-old undergraduate said: "I understand if once every five years or so companies need to adjust fares as costs go up, but it feels as though the fares are adjusted every few months nowadays, and it seems to me that the companies don't care about customer welfare at all."

Alicia Zakaria, 27, said that while the hike "annoys me, it won't change my cabbing habits".

The banking executive who cabs to work or business meetings at least once or twice a week said: "It's so hard to hail a cab these days that people just want to hop onto the first empty one. We can't afford to pick and choose when we're in a rush or standing under the hot sun."