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SMRT Taxis rolls out pay-per-drive taxi-sharing scheme

SINGAPORE — Taxi drivers will now be able to rent taxis on a pay-per-drive service, as SMRT Taxis in Thursday (Jan 26) rolled out its taxi-sharing scheme aimed at improving its competitiveness, as well as providing these drivers greater work flexibility.

Under the SMRT Taxi Share scheme, persons with a valid Taxi Driver Vocational Licence can rent these taxis on an hourly basis, for a minimum of three hours. Photo: Alfred Chua

Under the SMRT Taxi Share scheme, persons with a valid Taxi Driver Vocational Licence can rent these taxis on an hourly basis, for a minimum of three hours. Photo: Alfred Chua

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SINGAPORE — Taxi drivers will now be able to rent taxis on a pay-per-drive basis, as SMRT Taxis on Thursday (Jan 26) rolled out its taxi-sharing scheme aimed at making better use of its fleet - more than a hundred of which are sitting idle - as well as providing drivers with greater work flexibility. 

Under the SMRT Taxi Share scheme, those with a valid Taxi Driver Vocational Licence can rent these taxis on an hourly basis, for a minimum of three hours. 

To come under the scheme, eligible drivers will first need to complete a one-time registration. Thereafter, they can book a taxi from a pick-up location nearest to them. 

SMRT Taxis said it is currently looking at eight locations, mainly in the northern and central parts of the island, including Woodlands, Toa Payoh, and Ang Mo Kio, which were selected based on feedback from its existing data portal of inactive drivers. The scheme  - which will be operational from Feb 1 - will be extended islandwide in the coming months, the company added. 

At a media briefing on Thursday (Jan 26), SMRT Taxis said it will absorb the cost of maintenance as well as season parking charges as the taxis will be parked at public carparks. For a start, at least two taxis will be parked at designated carparks, but the company said it can be adjusted according to demand. 

SMRT Taxis said around five per cent of its fleet of 3,500 taxis are not used, which translates to 175 taxis. These vehicles will come under the scheme, where drivers will make payments online. On the day of the rental, the driver can unlock the vehicle using a web application, and begin driving. The vehicle must be returned to the same carpark it was picked up from. SMRT Taxis said late penalties will be imposed should a taxi driver return the vehicle late — S$10 for every 15 minutes. 

However, if the delay is caused by circumstances beyond the driver's control, for example if there is a traffic jam nearing the end of rental time, the driver has the option to extend the booking for an extra hour. 

If the vehicle has been booked by another driver, the other driver would also have to be alerted, said the company. 

Rental rates for taxis vary according to rental time and day. For example, if a driver chooses to rent a vehicle on a Sunday, between 10am and 4.59pm, he pays S$5.80 an hour. If rental takes place during peak periods — Saturday, from midnight to 5.59am, for example — the rate climbs to S$12.80 per hour. 

SMRT Taxis said it is currently offering drivers a month-long promotional rental rate — about S$2 cheaper than normal rates. 

Full-day rental rates for the SMRT Taxi Share scheme is capped at S$138 a day. Comparatively, those under the company’s full-time driving scheme pay between S$108 and S$125 per day.  

Deputy general manager of SMRT Taxis Shaun Lee said the scheme's primary target group are inactive drivers holding on to a vocational licence. 

In total, there are around 100,000 drivers in Singapore with the vocational licence. However, only half are actively driving. 

Mr Lee said the scheme was useful for retired or retiring drivers, some of whom may only want to drive for a few hours a day. 

Asked if the scheme was in response to the rise of private car hire companies, managing director for SMRT Taxis/Private hire services Tony Heng said this "transformation of the business model" will help the company increase capacity and competitiveness. "We are making ourselves more competitive in the market by offering more flexibility, and taking on more responsbilities," said Mr Heng. 

Noting that the annual attrition rate of SMRT Taxi drivers is about 10 per cent, Mr Heng said some of those that have left the company might still want to drive but “they may not find it suitable for them to stay on under the (full-time driving) scheme”. He declined to reveal figures on how much the scheme would cost the company, citing commercial sensitivities. 

Mr Tay Seng Kok, a full-time taxi driver with SMRT Taxis, was open to the idea of joining the new scheme. He said his daughter is expecting, and he would want to spend more time with his grandchild. He currently drives about 11 hours a day, but would like to scale it back to 8 or 9 hours a day. 

However, another SMRT Taxis driver in his late 60s, who only wanted to be known as Mr Goh, said he was not keen on the scheme as he felt the daily rates were a little steep. Mr Goh also felt that he was “not tech-savvy” enough to know how to operate the systems, like the web booking application. 

To that end, SMRT Taxis said it would devote resources to help train older drivers, some of whom may encounter difficulty using the systems. 

Meanwhile, responding to media queries, ComfortDelGro, which owns Comfort and Citycab, said "In a competitive environment, it is not unusual for companies to introduce schemes and promotions." 

"We have several rental package options for our drivers to choose from and these are tailored to best suit their driving patterns," said Ms Tammy Tan, group corporate communications officer at ComfortDelGro. 

 

 

CLARIFICATION: In an earlier version of this story, it was reported that SMRT Taxis has about 100,000 drivers with a vocational licence. SMRT has clarified that the 100,000 figure refers to all vocational licence holders in Singapore.

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