TAXI DRIVER: MUST REFLECT WHY OUR INCOME DROP, NOT BLAME OTHERS

A reader shared this Facebook post with us.

I have been driving taxi for the past 5yrs. I seen a lot of changes in the taxi trade. From the old peak hour surcharge timing to the present peak hour surcharge. From no Pte hire car app to present Uber and Grab.

A lot of my passengers asking me the same question. "Does Uber and Grab affect my business a lot?"

My reply is "They dun have much impact on my business as I dun solely depend on Current Booking or even Advance Booking. 98% of my jobs are Street jobs."

Have we as Taxi Drivers think what really went wrong?

What make our income drop by 10% to 20% or some say 30% to 40%?

From my point of view, we should do some self reflection.

In the past, some taxi drivers tends to choose destination. For example, dun want to go to West, Northwest or North Area. Some TDs dun even want to go out of the CBD area just because of the $3 surcharge. Sometime the things that we do make the commuters think that why are we so choosy over the places they go.

I remember I fetch one passenger from MBFC Tower 1 at 9:30pm going to Bukit Panjang complaining to me that she has been waiting for Taxi since 9pm. The problem she saw there are a lot of Taxis stopping along the Straits View but not going in to fetch customers.

I even have some passengers saying some taxi drivers choosing place to go but never display change shift .

Because these kind of problems which create a chance for Uber and Grab to come in.

This is my view.

Eugene Foo