Drop in overall satisfaction with taxi, private-hire car services in 2022, score for wait time falls the most
More than 95 per cent of those surveyed were satisfied with taxi and private-hire car services in 2022 - lower than in the previous two years.
File picture of taxis in Singapore. (Photo: TODAY)
SINGAPORE: Passengers' satisfaction with taxi and private-hire car services dropped in 2022, with the score for wait time falling the most, an annual survey has found.Â
Point-to-point services received a mean satisfaction score of eight out of 10 in 2022 compared with 8.4 the year before, according to the Public Transport Council’s 2022 P2P transport services customer satisfaction survey findings released on Monday (Feb 6).
The survey, which measures users’ satisfaction with regular taxis and private-hire services, was conducted from Oct 3 to 14 last year and involved more than 2,700 taxi and private-hire car passengers. It aims to better understand customers’ expectations as well as identify areas for improvement.
The survey respondents take taxis or private-hire cars thrice or more in a typical week and had used P2P services on the same day of survey completion.
They were asked to indicate on a scale of one to 10 the importance of, and their satisfaction with, key service attributes, based on their most recent journey in a taxi or private-hire car.
Respondents who gave a score of six and above were deemed to be satisfied with the attribute.
While 95.2 per cent of passengers surveyed said they were satisfied with P2P services, the figure was lower than in the previous two years - 97.5 per cent in 2021 and 96.8 per cent in 2020.
Mean satisfaction in taxi services received a score of 8.1 in 2022, down from 8.5 in 2021 and 2020. Half of the eight service attributes got a score of at least eight - safety, driver’s knowledge of route, ride comfort and service information.
As with 2021, safety was top at 8.7, followed by driver’s knowledge of routes, at 8.5.
However, satisfaction with taxi stand accessibility and waiting time scored the lowest at 7.6 and 7.1 respectively.
Taxi services scored marginally better than private-hire car services for all attributes, except in ease of booking.
Meanwhile, the mean satisfaction score for private hire car services was 7.9 in 2022, falling from 8.3 in 2021 and 2020.
Four of seven attributes - safety, driver’s knowledge of route, ride comfort and ease of booking – received a satisfaction score of at least eight.
As with taxis, safety was the top attribute at 8.5, consistent with that for 2021, and driver’s knowledge of route came in second at 8.2.
The lowest attribute for private hire car services was also waiting time, at 6.9 - a drop from the 7.6 in 2021
By mean score, consumers ranked safety as the most important attribute for P2P services, followed by ease of booking and service information.
“Similar to survey results from previous years, respondents indicated that pricing was a key decision factor in determining their choice(s) of P2P services,” PTC said.
