Forum: Make it easier to get a ride at taxi stands

UPDATED Mar 17, 2025, 05:49 AM

Thanks for sharing!

I refer to the article “New measures may help taxi firms grow fleets but don’t tackle problem of street-hail availability” (March 13), and want to relate my recent experience.

I am 80. After my day surgery at the National University Hospital last week ended at around 8pm, I joined the queue at the taxi stand in front of the main block to go home. There were fewer than 10 people, mostly elderly, in the queue.

Not many taxis stopped at the taxi stand, and when they did, they were always on call.

I queued in the evening wind for about half an hour, and realised as it grew later that I had little chance of getting a taxi ride .

Even though I was feeling weak, I dragged myself to the nearby MRT station to go home, despite dreading the idea of the 15-minute walk home after the train ride.

I have some suggestions to make.  

Have a call button or some device at popular taxi stands for passengers to alert taxis in the area that there are people waiting at the stands.

Make it mandatory for taxis to pick up fares at hospital taxi stands first before they take on any bookings from there.

Raise the taxi fares at high-traffic areas to be on a par with on-call rides. If there are two people who need a taxi, you cannot blame the taxi driver for picking the one willing to pay more. Chan Siu Yung

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Thanks for sharing!