Mr Goh estimated that he could be earning more acquired he switched over to the ride-hailing platforms, or had concurrently used the ride-hailing programs on the job, which taxi cab drivers are permitted to do. Still, he’s no regrets because of his familiarity with generating a taxi without having to depend on the apps.
Nevertheless , he is still having to pay the price. Due to increased competition from the some other ride-hailing platforms, the drop in traveler demand amid the particular raging COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increasing fuel and rental expenses, Mr Goh stated that his recent take-home income is about 35 per cent less in contrast to pre-pandemic.
Although he has been obtaining more customers recently due to the increase in transport demand following further relaxation of COVID-19 measures, his revenue has yet to see an uptick, this individual said.
As taxi drivers like Mr Goh continue to grapple along with falling incomes : amid ever-rising overhead costs, never-ending competition from private-hire car services and lingering associated with the pandemic — the future of Singapore’s taxi industry has once more come under the spotlight.
Whilst younger taxi motorists are generally more prepared to adapt to new technology for example ride-hailing applications or are willing to accept clients on multiple ride-hailing platforms, older drivers – those old 60 and over – are generally more accustomed to “old-school” methods such as accepting flagdown rides, or bidding for jobs on their taxi terminals.
TODAY’s checks demonstrated that the number of motorists with a Taxi Driver’s Vocational Licence (TDVL) above the age of 60 is relatively high.
Statistics from 2019 show that regarding 34 per cent of those with a TDVL are usually 60 and over. In contrast, just 8. 5 percent of those with a Personal Hire Car Driver’s Professional Licence (PDVL) are usually above the age of sixty, as of 2019.
The growing issues faced by this relatively large percentage of older taxi cab drivers also come at a time when taxi cab fleet numbers have been on rapid drop.
Based on data from Data Singapore and the Property Transport Authority (LTA) website, the number of cabs here fell can be half between 2014 and 2022. On the same period, the amount of private hire automobiles increased by a lot more than threefold.
And it is not just the older taxi motorists who are disadvantaged with the increasing reliance on technology that has been drive upon them adopting the emergence of the ride-hailing platforms.
Old commuters have also been forced to play the waiting around game as taxi cab numbers plummeted.
Many of them, that are not on ride-hailing applications and prefer to wait at taxi cab stands or flagdown taxis, told TODAY that they have had to endure longer waiting times in the past few months, a few for as long as one hour simply for a vacant taxi to pick them upward.
The decline in taxi numbers or lack of them is not unique to Singapore.
In New York City, taxi drivers from the famed New York City taxi have been reportedly hooked in debt, as the value of a certificate they need to acquire to operate the particular cab – called a medallion — had plummeted in value, from about US$1 million (S$1. 39 million) within 2014, to about US$100, 000 as of 2021.
British daily The Guardian reported within October last year that this tumultuous state from the medallion can be followed back to its synthetic inflation.
In 1937, New York City developed the medallion program and placed a limit on the quantity of medallions that could be marketed, making one rare and valuable. Simply by controlling the provide, demand for owning a medallion soared among taxi drivers who bought into the city’s promise that a medallion would bring them monetary stability and a path to achieve the proverbial American dream.
However the way New Yorkers – and travelers – travel throughout the city has changed, and the medallion has plummeted in value, The particular Guardian reported. The medallion’s fall in value arrives in part to the mind-boggling demand for ride-share services provided by businesses such as Uber and Lyft, causing possible taxi drivers to flock to these platforms.
Closer to house, Malaysia has also been going through a fall in taxi cab numbers. According to Malaysian daily newspaper Harian Metro, about 70, 000 taxis are abandoned at discard yards due to the drop in demand for taxi cab services in the country given that 2014, with failures estimated to be close to RM2. 9 billion (S$900 million).
This trend was observed after Grab had entered the Malaysian market in 2012, while the decline has been further exacerbated from the pandemic, with motorists leaving the profession as demand meant for rides fell.
In Singapore, whilst private-hire vehicles have taken on a larger reveal of the point-to-point (P2P) market here, the entire number of P2P automobiles – both cabs and private-hire automobiles – has been tumbling over the course of the outbreak.
Because of the fall in supply, there were more reported situations of surge pricing on private-hire rides, much to the lament of commuters.
While commuter demand can be on the rise currently since the dust slowly forms, it is still strongly below baseline ranges that were observed pre-COVID-19, said transport operators.
And heading by the statistics, it appears that the taxi sector is taking the brunts of this overall fall in demand.
Still, Singapore University or college of Social Sciences (SUSS) transport economist Walter Theseira said that it is not the end of the road for that taxi industry – provided it adapts. And the same goes for taxi drivers, irrespective of age.
Other than having the distinctive ability to accept street-hail rides, taxis motorists are also able to tap upon all the benefits of ride-hailing firms, such as to make use of their applications.
“It’s an industry service that satisfies a market transport need… As that need evolves, and as street hails continue to decline, then the market model has to change, ” said Assoc Prof Theseira.
“Already, the taxi operators themselves recognise that the street hail marketplace is a sunset part of the business and they have positioned more emphasis on their own app booking program. ”
Regarding older taxi motorists struggling to adjust, Assoc Prof Theseira noted that it will not make sense “to change the market model for taxi services just to save these jobs”.