Cabbies' earnings up despite initial fears

[Ahyoo2002]

Again, Singaporean only know how to kpkb when price increase but in the end they will just get used to it over time. Nothing change and hence these people can anyhow increase their price as and when they like and we still buy .

 

I am not refering to taxi alone, many thing in our daily life increase but we will not make alternative plan even when it is increase.

 

April 25, 2008

 

FOUR MONTHS AFTER FARE HIKE

Cabbies' earnings up despite initial fears

Ridership also up as commuters return to taking taxis

 

By Maria Almenoar

 

THE chorus of complaints that came from the taxi industry after fares were raised in December last year seems to have died down.

Although some customers initially stayed away from taxis, there has been a turnaround, and with it fears that the earnings of cabbies would drop seem to have eased, according to surveys done by the country's two biggest taxi companies.

 

ComfortDelgro, the largest taxi operator here with about 15,000 of the country's 24,000 taxis, saw a 16 per cent increase in takings for a cabby's full day of work.

 

For a full-day shift, cabbies are earning $187.92, up from $162 before the fare revision, after deducting the cost of fuel and renting the cab.

 

SMRT, which has about 3,000 cabs on the road, said cabbies saw a 20 per cent increase in gross income in the first quarter of this year, compared with the last quarter of last year.

 

The data came from a survey of about 300 taxi drivers.

 

In a bid to alleviate a taxi shortage and raise the drivers' earnings, the six taxi companies increased their starting metered fare from $2.50 to $2.80 in December.

 

The meter was also adjusted to tick faster, with 20 cents charged for every 385m up to 10km travelled, instead of 10 cents for every 210m.

 

However, commuters were most peeved by a revised peak-hour surcharge which was tweaked from a flat $2 to 35 per cent of the metered fare. The surcharge for picking up passengers in the city centre also went up from $1 to $3.

 

After first avoiding taxis in favour of public transport, more commuters seem to be going back to them.

 

The average daily ridership for taxis for January was 855,000 while February's went up to 934,000.

 

Last year, the average daily ridership was 945,000.

 

Said 55-year-old cabby Haniff Mahbob, who has been on the job for 20 years: 'After fares went up, we had few customers. But luckily the new fares offset our lost business. Now, business is definitely picking up. I'm sure more drivers have bigger smiles on their faces.'

 

Call bookings are also on the rise this year, according to ComfortDelgro.

 

The company will also soon offer a service which allows passengers to book a cab by sending an SMS message with their postal code and pick-up location.

 

The Taxi Operators' Associations, which represents drivers' associations of five of the six taxi companies, said: 'The situation seems to have stabilised and improved, but we are still quite concerned that rising fuel cost may eat into our drivers' income.'

 

Oil prices hit a record US$117.50 (S$160) a barrel this week.

 

On average, taxi drivers on a full-day shift spend close to $40 on diesel and about $90 on cab rental.

[Friendstar]

i believe taxi drivers' earnings not up

 

it is their words

 

not ours.

[Shull]

 

statistics data can be tweaked to suit the agenda of whoever that comes out with it..

 

If cabbies can earn $180+ nett daily..if they work 20 days a month can get 3.6k liao..

[Cthulhu]

Wow! Not bad earnings! Can be close to 5k if cabby work more days!

[Enzomatrix]

everytime they wanna use numbers to amaze us.. wad truely amazed us is where the hell did the numbers come from and the integrity of the source

[Leepee]

For a full-day shift, cabbies are earning $187.92, up from $162 before the fare revision, after deducting the cost of fuel and renting the cab.

 

1) Full day shift = 24 hours (two shifts)

2) Is $187.92 the upper percentile or average?

 

 

On average, taxi drivers on a full-day shift spend close to $40 on diesel and about $90 on cab rental.

 

3) If one only work day or night shift, one will only earn $93,96. But the taxi companies boss just shake leg in office can also earn rental of $90 easily.

 

Seems so unfair, are the taxi drivers working for themselves or working for the taxi

companies?

 

 

Ok I know most taxi drivers no need to pay income tax....but this report seems to suggest otherwise.

4) $93.96 x 30days = $2819monthly salary on average! $33823 yearly surely kena income tax right?

Edited April 25, 2008 by Leepee

[Ronnchee]

I agreed with you.

 

See more empty taxis nowaday, how to up the earning ?

 

Besides, our media is controlled by gahment, of cos they must say something good of the policy.

[Ronnchee]

Taxi drivers still need to pay income tax hor.

 

They are considered self employed.

 

Besides tax, they also need to top up medi-save.

[Shull]

so i conclude..

 

the report is biased towards the upper portion of the 'bell curve'..

 

case closed..i wont get smoked by the shi*ty times..

[Rickster]

I think what they said might be true, becos it means the profit of a whole day(24hrs), which means 2 shifts.

[Mzrmazda3]

The accuracy of these sort of reports remains a mystery

[Ahyoo2002]

  Quote

i believe taxi drivers' earnings not up

 

it is their words

 

not ours.

 

Me no idea, the report said up

[Picanto]

never believe everything you read in the papers, unless that paper is a true democratic newspaper.

[Friendstar]

True Democratic Newpspaer?

 

fathope in sg context.

[Route88]

HeH...be like me,dont read nor buy.

[Jeffang]

every few mth taxi must go back to services... and they will use a computer to hook up all taxi meter to download all data... so they will know each taxi driver earn how much...

 

even i got to report earn 6k a mth... if not the tax people may come to me...

 

 

 

  Quote

everytime they wanna use numbers to amaze us.. wad truely amazed us is where the hell did the numbers come from and the integrity of the source

[Enzomatrix]

u r the golden cabbie wad.. 6k per month

 

even my dad with daily hourly bookings also dun get that much.

[Patwong]

Hi jeffang

 

Correct me if i am wrong, I remember reading your posting about applying to be a taxi driver, passed the test and tried part time driving. Are you driving full time now?

If yes, can share your opinon on the report by strait times?

Is the amount earned refering to taxi drivers on the top 10% earner?