| |
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: Taxi drivers say business is a breeze with the hot weather. But commuters say the soaring temperatures are getting them hot under the collar in more ways than one.
Commuters are glad to get out of the searing heat and into the cool of a cab. That is, if they can get a taxi when they want one.
According to ComfortDelGro which manages bookings for both Comfort taxis and CityCab, call bookings have risen by 8 per cent from January to February.
Compared with the same two-month period last year, call bookings have shot up by 16 per cent.
For lifestyle writer Maureen Aw, 24, using a taxi these days is the best option for her. "I just want to get out of the heat and into air-conditioned comfort," she said.
With more people hopping into taxis, many others have been left waiting, stranded in the heat.
Ms Aw, who hails a taxi about three times a week from town, said she has to wait twice as long for a cab compared to the time not so long ago, when many taxi queues moved faster.
On weekend nights, without calling for a cab, it is almost impossible to get a ride, she said.
Hotel guests, too, are subject to the waiting game. A Meritus Mandarin spokesperson acknowledged the longer waiting time. At Swissotel two Sunday nights ago, those in the taxi queue had to wait for at least an hour before boarding a taxi.
For those catching a taxi to work, the situation can get dangerous. Ms Leong Ho Ming, who waits for a taxi outside Outram MRT station every morning, said there will be at least five people in the queue - without a taxi in sight. At about 8.50am, rather than risk being late for work, she heads onto the road to hail a taxi. It is faster that way, said Ms Leong, a business manager.
But, could the disappearing taxis in the morning be due to the fact that many are flocking to the Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) - where cabbies are entitled to a S$3 surcharge and there are lots of weary casino patrons waiting to go home after a long night at the gaming tables?
When MediaCorp visited the RWS casino's taxi stand on Monday morning, there was a steady flow of 15 to 20 taxis in the queue during the peak 8am to 9am period. For each taxi, the maximum waiting time for a passenger was under 10 minutes.
Mr Liu Wen Cheng, a limousine cab driver, said many people need a taxi as they are rushing to work from the casinos. In fact, the six times that he was at RWS during both peak and non-peak periods, the queue was short and it moved fast.
However, most of the 10 taxi drivers interviewed told MediaCorp that they go to RWS only if they are nearby.
Perhaps I was lucky, but I managed to hail a cab from a residential area at around 8am on Monday, after waiting just 10 minutes.
CityCab driver Robin Ng explained: "Not all cabbies want to queue for the certainty of a passenger and that S$3 surcharge. There are cabbies - like me - who pick up passengers wherever we can."
- TODAY/sc
|
