New measures may boost taxi supply but don't tackle street-hail availability

More needed to get cabbies to pick up fares on the streets, passengers to flag down cabs

- Lee Nian Tjoe

A raft of measures intended to stem the continued decline of Singapore's taxi population, lower the cost of running a taxi business and pave the way for operators to grow their fleets was announced in Parliament on March 5.

The moves followed a review of the point-to-point transport (P2P) sector, which covers taxis and ride-hailing services. The study began in 2023 and involved the Land Transport Authority (LTA), operators, drivers, commuters and academics, among other parties.

The key changes introduced in the latest round include more flexibility for operators to sell off taxis that they do not need and convert used cars into taxis.

Without these changes, companies have to contend with holding on to taxis that may not be in demand and being restricted to buying new cars to grow their fleet, adding to their operating costs.

This is the second set of changes from the review.

In the earlier round in March 2024, measures included extending the statutory lifespan of taxis from eight years to 10 and reducing the frequency of periodic inspections for some taxis to minimise downtime for drivers.

Taken together, do these two rounds of measures go far enough to stem the declining taxi population here?

While they may help to increase the supply of taxis on the market, they do not address the fundamental problem that street-hail rides—the edge that cabs have over private-hire cars—are becoming more elusive.

The Government wants to keep taxis on the road for several reasons.

Senior Minister of State for Transport Amy Khor said in Parliament that taxis play an important role for commuters who are less familiar with using ride-hailing apps and at locations where demand for services is very high, such as airports and ferry terminals.