A letter is printed in the Sunday Times suggesting that the taxi calling fee be waived. This will encourage commuters to call for a taxi. The taxi does not have to cruise around to look for passengers.
I think that the taxi calling fee can be reduced to $1. Many commuters will be willing to pay this fee for a taxi to arrive at the doorstep.
I have seen a automated taxi matching system using SMS. It does not need to have an expensive GPS system to locate an available taxi, or to have people to answer calls at the hotlines.
The SMS system can be operated economically. It is feasible to reduce the taxi calling charge to $1. I hope that some of the taxi companies will use this low cost, efficient system. I also hope that the Land Transport Authority will allow this a third party provider to offer this SMS based system to taxi drivers who wish to use this system.
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Sir,
ReplyDeleteI felt that the taxi calling fee should be removed totally. So more people will be calling/smsing for taxi and there will be less taxi crusing on empty. Utimately, this can save unnecesary waste on fuel and less congestion in the CBD.
To me, the calling service is a guaranteed way to get a cab. It is already difficult to call in during super peak hours, what more if you lower the calling charges?
ReplyDeleteWe could have tiered calling charges, though. $1 for normal reservation and $5 for premium reservation.