SINGAPORE — All taxi companies except Prime met the Land Transport Authority’s (LTA) standards for 70 per cent of its cabbies to drive a minimum of 250km daily from April to September this year, the LTA said in a statement today (Nov 27).

Comfort, CityCab, SMRT also consistently passed the standard to have a majority of their taxis on the roads during peak periods.

Transcab met this standard from April onwards while Premier only met it in September.

Based on their performance from January to June, this means that only Comfort, CityCab and SMRT will be eligible to grow their fleet next year.

The LTA says it will be proceeding with the second year taxi standards from January, where 80 per cent of taxis will have to ply 250km per day and be on the roads during peak periods.

However, the shoulder peak standard (from 6am to 7am and 11pm to 12am) for percentage of taxis on the roads have been adjusted downwards from the original plan’s 75 per cent to 60 per cent due to lower demand and feedback from taxi drivers and companies.

Implemented in January this year, the availability standards require 70 per cent of a company’s fleet to chalk up at least 250km per day and to ply the roads during peak hours.

In June, the LTA had given the taxi companies another six months to meet the standards without incurring financial penalties after receiving feedback that they needed more time to adjust.