[CNA] LTA adjusts method of computing taxi availability
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CNA: LTA adjusts method of computing taxi availability
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/lta-adjusts-method-of/1949900.html
Using only the hired-out fleet to compute taxi availability removes the variation arising from the unhired taxi fleet and measures the efficiency of hired taxis more accurately, says the Land Transport Authority.
SINGAPORE: The Taxi Availability (TA) will be now be computed based on taxi companies’ respective hired-out fleet, instead of their registered fleet, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on Tuesday (Jun 30).
The adjustment takes into account feedback from the National Taxi Association and taxi companies. It will be applied retrospectively from Jan 1, 2015, with TA standards remaining unchanged.
Currently, TA is computed on the basis of taxi companies’ respective registered fleet, as LTA wants the companies to deploy on the streets as many as possible all the taxis which they have registered and for which special COEs had been allocated.
However, LTA said using only the hired-out fleet to compute TA removes the variation arising from the unhired taxi fleet and measures the efficiency of hired taxis more accurately. Taxi drivers would not have to increase their mileage to make up for the non-performance of the unhired taxis.
LTA added that it will maintain the standards for both TA indicators. Taxi companies that have the requisite percentage of taxis on the roads during peak periods, and percentage of taxis with minimum daily mileage of 250km, in four months out of every half-yearly period, will be able to grow their fleet in the corresponding six-month period of the following year, capped at 2 per cent per annum for now.
Financial penalties will continue to be imposed on taxi companies that are unable to meet the TA standards for two consecutive months for the same indicator, said LTA. The financial penalty amount will continue to be computed based on taxi companies’ registered fleets.
SMRT, PRIME PENALISED
Since the introduction of the TA standards on Jan 1, 2013, the percentage of hired-out taxis on the roads during peak periods has increased from 82.4 per cent in 2012 to 90 per cent in the first four months of 2015, said LTA. This translates to more than 2,000 more taxis being available to commuters during these hours.
According to LTA, companies Comfort, CityCab and SMRT have consistently met the required standard in the first four months of 2015 based on their hired-out fleets. At least 60 per cent of their hired-out fleet were on the roads during the shoulder peak periods of 6am to 7am and 11pm to 12 midnight, and at least 85 per cent during the core peak periods of 7am to 11am and 5pm to 11pm.
Trans-Cab met the standard in February, March and April, while Premier met the standard in January, February and March. Prime did not meet the standard in the first four months of 2015.
As for daily mileage, Comfort consistently met the standard in the first four months of 2015, with at least 85 per cent of its fleet achieving the minimum daily mileage of 250km on weekdays and 75 per cent of its fleet on weekends and public holidays.
CityCab met the standard in January, March and April 2015, while Trans-Cab met the standard in March and April 2015. Premier, SMRT and Prime did not meet the standard in the first four months of 2015, LTA said.
As such, LTA has served notices of penalties to SMRT for the months of January and February, and to Prime for the months of January, February and March 2015.
"LTA strongly urges taxi companies not to pass down the penalties incurred to their drivers if the companies fail the TA standards. Taxi companies should instead continue their good work in assisting their drivers to achieve these standards," it said.
- CNA/eg
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I will take the last sentence by LTA Quote "LTA strongly urges taxi companies not to pass down the penalties incurred to their drivers if the companies fail the TA standards. Taxi companies should instead continue their good work in assisting their drivers to achieve these standards," Unquote The way i look at it, it is only an urge but not a necessary, therefore Taxi companies can use any kind of variables on Taxi drivers behind the scene to cut their loses. LTA should therefore put into a regulation that if Taxi companies is unable to meet the TA target set, they will be penalised and not the taxi driver. With such sentence from LTA, it is not sufficient enough to prevent companies to put the blame on their TDs leading to driver suffering and give up driving. This will result in more unhired taxi