Trans-Cab to up checks after 10% of cabs fail tests

SINGAPORE — Taxi operator Trans-Cab, which owns the bulk of taxis fitted with compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinders here, will be looking into tightening its maintenance regime for its fleet. 

This comes after a three-day inspection showed that nearly 10 per cent of the fleet did not pass the checks mandated by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), even though the vehicles have been undergoing servicing monthly.

The operator’s general manager Jasmine Tan also told TODAY that the problematic taxis — which are six to seven-and-a-half years old and had failed the inspections — would be progressively scrapped. 

Inspections for the taxis wrapped up on Thursday (May 25), while the first handful of private cars using CNG were sent for checks.

On Wednesday, LTA ordered that the checks be widened to include private vehicles. On Thursday, 11 of these were examined, with one private car failing the inspection. 

There are 1,650 private CNG vehicles in Singapore as of April, and owners have until June 9 to get them checked. This is “in the interest of public safety”, LTA said, after two Trans-Cab taxis involved in separate but recent road accidents caught fire. 

Preliminary investigations suggested that the taxi drivers had lit up cigarettes on board, not knowing that the CNG cylinders were leaking. 

The compulsory checks, which started on Tuesday, were initially meant for all the 950 CNG taxis.

Trans-Cab owns 920 of the CNG taxis here, with the rest managed by SMRT, Prime and also individual taxi drivers under the yellow-top scheme.

So far, a total of 882 taxis and eight buses have undergone inspection, with 82 taxis failing the test. 

Vehicles that do not pass the checks will be sent for further investigations and rectifications, the LTA said.

The authority also disclosed that six yellow-top taxis could not be inspected because of repair works, while four public buses are not in use and would be tested before they are deployed. 

Ms Tan from Trans-Cab said that the company is in the process of conducting further checks on the taxis that failed the inspection. In the meantime, they are grounded on its premises along Ang Mo Kio Street 63.

A Trans-Cab driver, who identified himself only as Mr Tan, said that his taxi failed the inspection on Wednesday. He added that the company should tighten its monthly maintenance checks to improve safety for drivers and passengers.

“I think the public are afraid to take our taxis because of the fires,” he said. Mr Tan, who is in his 40s, has been with the operator for three years.

Mr Alvin Tok, 43, a managing director of automobile firm UK Cool, which carries out maintenance works for CNG vehicles, said that the lower turnout of private CNG vehicle owners at inspection centres could be because some of them are out of town, or they did not know about LTA’s order.

Mr Tok said that owners whose vehicles have failed the checks should fix leakages immediately as a safety precaution. They should also inform the workshops that they would like the gas to be released if they no longer want to run their vehicles on CNG, he added. 

This is because even though they have stopped using CNG and switched to petrol, the gas is still stored in the tank.

Workshops that specialise in CNG systems would typically release the natural gas first in an open space — a process which takes two days — before shutting off the tank completely, Mr Tok said. “The most important thing is, they cannot light up their cigarettes in the car,” he warned.

Retiree Anthony Yip, whose Honda Fit failed the inspection for private CNG cars on Thursday, said that the process is a “hassle”. At the Vicom inspection centre along Sin Ming Drive, mechanics found a leak below the gauge and he has to send the car for further rectification before returning for another inspection.

Mr Yip, who said that he had stopped using natural gas a year after installing the cylinder, will send his car for repairs within this week. “I guess safety comes first,” he said.

INHALING CNG HAS SIDE EFFECTS

Inhaling natural gas over a prolonged period, especially if the driver is unaware that the compressed natural gas (CNG) tank in his car is leaking, could lead to breathlessness, nausea or dizziness, health experts said. This is because of the toxic chemicals present in the gas, they added.

Dr Lim Ing Ruen, an ear, nose and throat surgeon at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said that the side effects also depend on how much of the gas is inhaled over time.

If a person breathes in a smaller amount of CNG — due to a smaller leakage — over a longer time period, then there would be a cumulative toxic effect. The person might experience loss of coordination, headaches and dizziness. 

If a huge amount of CNG is inhaled over a shorter time, then the person might lose consciousness or die from suffocation. 

Dr Lim said: “The car, being an enclosed space, means that when there is a leakage, this is likely to be concentrated over time.”

Dr Ong Kian Chung, a respiratory specialist at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, warned that a driver could also suffer from carbon-monoxide poisoning. 

The combustion of CNG releases carbon monoxide, and if the fittings connecting the tank to the engine are faulty, the odourless gas might enter the car via the air-conditioning ducts.

Carbon monoxide prevents blood cells from absorbing oxygen, so inhaling the gas in an enclosed space could be fatal.