New app may make taxis in CBD more accessible during peak hours

SINGAPORE — The daily ritual of having to join a long queue for a cab in the Central Business District (CBD) during the evening rush-hour may soon be a thing of the past, if a trial of a new taxi-sharing app is successful.

Developed by Aspiring Citizens Cleantech, a clean energy start-up, PAIR Taxi is a free mobile app aimed at making taxis in the CBD more accessible during peak hours.

Commuters keen on sharing a cab can use the app to select a pick-up point from about 20 taxi stands in the CBD. For a match to happen, they must board from the same taxi stand.

The app then uses a cloud service to assign a taxi to a maximum of three commuters heading to destinations close to each other. Cabbies can also tap this service to check the demand at each taxi stand.

Aspiring Citizens Cleantech’s managing director Andy Zheng said: “All you need is five taps (on your phone), and you are in the taxi, going home, chatting with your (new) friends, who probably work in the same building.

“Our philosophy is that by making the drivers find the passengers quicker, we also reduce the queuing time for passengers.”

Each commuter will pay a separate fare which is guaranteed to be almost a quarter less than what he would have had to pay if he had taken a cab individually, said Dr Zheng.

The app, which will also suggest the order of alighting, automatically splits the fare based on each drop-off point. Each commuter pays his share upon alighting. “In total, what the drivers collect will be more than what the (fare) metre is showing. That’s why drivers can earn more from this,” Dr Zheng added.

Apple and Android users can download the app within the next two to three months, when it enters a two-week pilot phase. During this period, some 300 cabbies will test the app on two taxi stands in the CBD.

When contacted by TODAY, a Land Transport Authority (LTA) spokesperson said PAIR Taxi has “shared its preliminary concept”, but added that its developers need to register and comply with the Third-Party Taxi Booking Service Providers Act when the law comes into force.

Apart from registering with the LTA, third-party taxi-booking service providers will also need, among other things, to disclose adequate and timely information on charges and fees.

Anyone providing an unregistered service is liable to a fine not exceeding S$10,000, or imprisonment for a term of up to six months, or both.

Dr Zheng said PAIR Taxi will gradually expand to include taxi stands outside the CBD, based on feedback from cabbies and commuters. The developers are also in talks with taxi companies in China regarding a possible expansion there.

Mr Gopinath Menon, a former LTA traffic engineer who was involved in developing major traffic-improvement schemes while with the authority, welcomed the “intelligent” app as it would reduce the hassle of sharing a cab.

“But whether it works depends on whether people are prepared to share. Some are not willing to share with strangers,” he added.

While welcoming the new app, cabbie Henry Tay, 45, cautioned that the app’s payment system could create disputes. “Both passengers must strongly agree about whether the fare (for each of them) is right,” he said.