Waiting for taxi in orchard

[slickshifters]

Anyone realised if the waiting time for a taxi in Orchard is becoming longer? Am I the only one?

[Goldbug]

you waited inside or outside the ERP zone, inside the ERP zone should be quite fast?

 

unless at Takashimaya, the traffic flow design cmi...

[Watwheels]

Base on what statistic? Your butt feel or gut feel?

[Darthrevan]

Longer waits for cabs during peak hours in Orchard

BEEN waiting longer than before for a cab in Orchard? You are not alone.

According to Land Transport Authority (LTA) figures, commuters at Singapore's shopping belt are putting up with longer waits for taxis during peak times over the last nine months, when compared with the same period last year.

This is despite moves by several malls and the Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) to relieve the cab crunch.

At Far East Plaza, for instance, it takes an average of nearly 14 minutes to get a cab between the 5pm and 6pm rush hour, about double the 7.8 minutes it used to take last year, according to LTA.

For the 9pm to 10pm peak period, commuters are having to wait 15.6 minutes, up from 11.2 minutes, with taxis often getting caught in the traffic snarl along Scotts Road.

Similarly at Paragon, taking a cab in the early evening rush hour means a nearly 15-minute wait, when it was around 10 minutes before.

For the later peak period, the wait has gone up from 4.7 minutes to 6.3 minutes.

On one Friday last month, The Straits Times found that it took between 17.5 and 29 minutes to get a cab at Far East Plaza, Paragon and Ngee Ann City - three of Orchard's busiest malls - between 5pm and 6pm.

During 9pm to 10pm, passengers had to wait for as long as 26.5 minutes.

These sort of waiting times make Orchard Road taxi stands one of the worst places in Singapore to get a cab.

"It's the worst thing I hate about Singapore - standing in taxi queues," said Sri Lankan entrepreneur Irshad Muhseen, 40, as he stood in line at a Ngee Ann City taxi stand.

The commuters whom The Straits Times spoke to there blamed traffic flow around the area for the problem.

"I've spent a lot of time waiting for others to board. There are also cars from the carpark coming out and the lanes are too narrow," said marketing manager Elyn Ho, 29.

A joint effort with LTA last December to tweak traffic light timings so that more cars can exit the mall has only marginally improved traffic flow, said a Ngee Ann City spokesman.

Next month, the mall is meeting LTA again to look at more adjustments.

Over at Paragon, a separate driveway for cabs in August last year, which prevents them from being stuck in a jam with cars entering the mall, has met with relative success.

Cabbies such as Mr Roger Seah said this makes Paragon a more attractive stop.

"We don't waste time being stuck and can do more trips," said Mr Seah, who has been driving for over 10 years.

Still, during the visit by The Straits Times, it took as long as 29 minutes to get a cab there between 5pm and 6pm, leaving commuters calling for more cabs to ply the Orchard area.

Singapore, with 29,000 taxis on the road and more than 90,000 licensed cabbies, has a higher cab-to-resident ratio than most developed cities. But taxi usage here is less than optimal.

Hong Kong's 18,000 taxis, for instance, make about one million trips daily, compared to under a million trips by cabs here.

This is despite commuters, for example, paying a $3 city area surcharge when they take a cab within the city, including Orchard Road and Shenton Way.

Transport analyst Michael Li said more drastic measures might have to be considered to unclog the congestion.

This may include raising Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges to "hit people harder in their pockets to stop them from driving into town and (instead) take the public transport".

Orba executive director Steven Goh said Singaporeans, and tourists alike, are turned off by the difficulties in getting a taxi.

"Those carrying shopping bags want the convenience of a comfortable ride home."

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/longer-waits-cabs-during-peak-hours-orchard-20131114

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you are right..its in the papers today

[Sharkey]

Really boils down to where you wait. This is a weird topic in a car forum. Usually, we complain about taxi drivers' driving! Not their disappearing!

[Yewheng]

Wa like that take train a lot faster. Can save $ somemore. [sunny]

[Kangadrool]

Wa like that take train a lot faster. Can save $ somemore. [sunny]

Agree. By the time teksi come, already on the train half way home liao.

[Watwheels]

Year end more & more ppl do shopping at Orchard Road plus more tourists during this festive period.

 

By saying longer waiting times apart from norm is expected. But to put it sound like a significant longer waiting time, is it really? Or every year around this time is expected to be like that?

 

We all know sgp drivers know how to keng. That includes taxi drivers. Places like ngee ann city is a shitty place to take a cab coz of the lousy road design. Driver will try to avoid it. Ppl shud learn to take a cab else where in Orchard road.

Edited November 14, 2013 by Watwheels

[Yewheng]

Year end more & more ppl do shopping at Orchard Road plus more tourists during this festive period.

 

By saying longer waiting times apart from norm is expected. But to put it sound like a significant longer waiting time, is it really? Or every year around this time is expected to be like that?

 

We all know sgp drivers know how to keng. That includes taxi drivers. Places like ngee ann city is a shitty place to take a cab coz of the lousy road design. Driver will try to avoid it. Ppl shud learn to take a cab else where in Orchard road.

 

Nowadays, the trend shifted already. More Singaporeans now go to neighboorhood mall to shop. What town area shopping mall have, neighboorhood mall also have.

 

I quite long time never been to Orchard already, and so do many of my friends. So you see...

 

Edited November 14, 2013 by Yewheng

[Tt_hh]

i find the commuter here seems shallow and self centered. they only waited for 30 mins and complained... but taxi drivers 24hrs need passengers. its a two way thing. enough said.

[Watwheels]

 

Nowadays, the trend shifted already. More Singaporeans now go to neighboorhood mall to shop. What town area shopping mall have, neighboorhood mall also have.

 

I quite long time never been to Orchard already, and so do many of my friends. So you see...

 

 

I think there will still be ppl who go there to see x'mas lightings. At the same time shop and dine.

 

For ppl who stay far away, always go neighbourhood mall also sian.

[Yewheng]

i find the commuter here seems shallow and self centered. they only waited for 30 mins and complained... but taxi drivers 24hrs need passengers. its a two way thing. enough said.

 

Depends la, if you are the commuter frequently face this problem, will you also be frustrated??

 

Yes, it takes 2 hands to clap, but also can't blame commuter to be frustrated too. So now the issue is how to solve the jam???

 

Difficult..

 

 

[Watwheels]

i find the commuter here seems shallow and self centered. they only waited for 30 mins and complained... but taxi drivers 24hrs need passengers. its a two way thing. enough said.

 

They will have a lot more to comprain when it rains. Most taxis will take shelter at coffeshop and lim kopi. If got flash flood at Orchard Rd lagi worse. The comprains never end.

[Shull]

 

 

Longer waits for cabs during peak hours in Orchard

BEEN waiting longer than before for a cab in Orchard? You are not alone.

According to Land Transport Authority (LTA) figures, commuters at Singapore's shopping belt are putting up with longer waits for taxis during peak times over the last nine months, when compared with the same period last year.

This is despite moves by several malls and the Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) to relieve the cab crunch.

At Far East Plaza, for instance, it takes an average of nearly 14 minutes to get a cab between the 5pm and 6pm rush hour, about double the 7.8 minutes it used to take last year, according to LTA.

For the 9pm to 10pm peak period, commuters are having to wait 15.6 minutes, up from 11.2 minutes, with taxis often getting caught in the traffic snarl along Scotts Road.

Similarly at Paragon, taking a cab in the early evening rush hour means a nearly 15-minute wait, when it was around 10 minutes before.

For the later peak period, the wait has gone up from 4.7 minutes to 6.3 minutes.

On one Friday last month, The Straits Times found that it took between 17.5 and 29 minutes to get a cab at Far East Plaza, Paragon and Ngee Ann City - three of Orchard's busiest malls - between 5pm and 6pm.

During 9pm to 10pm, passengers had to wait for as long as 26.5 minutes.

These sort of waiting times make Orchard Road taxi stands one of the worst places in Singapore to get a cab.

"It's the worst thing I hate about Singapore - standing in taxi queues," said Sri Lankan entrepreneur Irshad Muhseen, 40, as he stood in line at a Ngee Ann City taxi stand.

The commuters whom The Straits Times spoke to there blamed traffic flow around the area for the problem.

"I've spent a lot of time waiting for others to board. There are also cars from the carpark coming out and the lanes are too narrow," said marketing manager Elyn Ho, 29.

A joint effort with LTA last December to tweak traffic light timings so that more cars can exit the mall has only marginally improved traffic flow, said a Ngee Ann City spokesman.

Next month, the mall is meeting LTA again to look at more adjustments.

Over at Paragon, a separate driveway for cabs in August last year, which prevents them from being stuck in a jam with cars entering the mall, has met with relative success.

Cabbies such as Mr Roger Seah said this makes Paragon a more attractive stop.

"We don't waste time being stuck and can do more trips," said Mr Seah, who has been driving for over 10 years.

Still, during the visit by The Straits Times, it took as long as 29 minutes to get a cab there between 5pm and 6pm, leaving commuters calling for more cabs to ply the Orchard area.

Singapore, with 29,000 taxis on the road and more than 90,000 licensed cabbies, has a higher cab-to-resident ratio than most developed cities. But taxi usage here is less than optimal.

Hong Kong's 18,000 taxis, for instance, make about one million trips daily, compared to under a million trips by cabs here.

This is despite commuters, for example, paying a $3 city area surcharge when they take a cab within the city, including Orchard Road and Shenton Way.

Transport analyst Michael Li said more drastic measures might have to be considered to unclog the congestion.

This may include raising Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges to "hit people harder in their pockets to stop them from driving into town and (instead) take the public transport".

Orba executive director Steven Goh said Singaporeans, and tourists alike, are turned off by the difficulties in getting a taxi.

"Those carrying shopping bags want the convenience of a comfortable ride home."

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/longer-waits-cabs-during-peak-hours-orchard-20131114

 

------------------------------------

you are right..its in the papers today

 

 

Chicken and egg story.. Shoppers who have car prefer to drive because it saves them the hassle of waiting for a cab in line for up to 30 mins. In this time, you could probably reach Jurong from Orchard liao..

 

Then because of all these cars, no taxis wanna go into the area to jam with other cars..

[Vid]

Taka is one of the worst place in orchard to wait for a taxi. Call for a cab.... if you can get one

[Hydrocarbon]

 

 

Longer waits for cabs during peak hours in Orchard

BEEN waiting longer than before for a cab in Orchard? You are not alone.

Transport analyst Michael Li said more drastic measures might have to be considered to unclog the congestion.

This may include raising Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges to "hit people harder in their pockets to stop them from driving into town and (instead) take the public transport".

 

 

Everything is an excuse to raise ERP.

 

Road jam coz of too little lane? Raise ERP.

Road jam coz of entrance and exit too close together? Raise ERP.

Road jam coz MIW not enough bonus? Raise ERP.

Not enough money to upgrade public transport? Raise ERP.

Still not enough? Raise MRT fare.

 

*Hokkien expletives*

[Toothiewabbit]

Taka is one of the worst place in orchard to wait for a taxi. Call for a cab.... if you can get one

...that is, if you could get through to their booking centre during weekends or peak hours.

 

Ever use their apps to book one? Can take between 15 to 30 mins just to book a cab that is near your location. Best part is, during that waiting time, you could see 3 to 5 empty cabs zoom past you LOL!!!

Edited November 14, 2013 by Toothiewabbit

[Celicar]

2 way thing means cabbie also cannot complain if they wait for 30 mins and no passenger.

i find the commuter here seems shallow and self centered. they only waited for 30 mins and complained... but taxi drivers 24hrs need passengers. its a two way thing. enough said.