Fewer airport limo bookings
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FAR fewer bookings are now being made for limousine taxi rides from Changi Airport. The fall follows the implementation of a new fare structure by SMRT, which took over the booking counter from ComfortDelGro on Jan 9.
In the one month between that day and Feb 9, SMRT arranged an average of 241 trips a day for limousine taxi drivers.
For the month, the figure was 7,230 trips - 60 per cent lower than the 18,152 bookings ComfortDelGro processed in January last year.
SMRT's figure was even lower than the 8,153 trips and 8,130 trips which ComfortDelGro handled in the relatively slow months of last October and November, respectively.
But SMRT is sticking to its revamped fare structure. Under this, limousine taxi passengers pay the metered fare, which starts at a $3.20 flagdown rate for regular limousines, and $5 for a ride in the larger Chrysler 300c.
On top of the metered fare, passengers pay an extra $16 (or an extra $20 for the Chrysler 300c cab), as well as other fees such as the peak-hour surcharge and Electronic Road Pricing charges.
When ComfortDelGro was in charge, all passengers paid a flat rate of $45 for a limousine taxi ride from the airport.
SMRT, standing its ground on its fare structure, said it considered itself as having done well, despite flights having been cancelled and the overall economic decline. Its spokesman explained that a flat fare deters passengers who take short trips, and that going by the meter plus surcharges makes it fairer for them.
The metered fare plus the surcharge also means they earn more for long distances, the spokesman said.
But limousine cabbies tell a different story.
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Tourists are getting smarter...
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told you long ago that SMRT mgmt sucks big time... dun know what the f they are doing.... if they were managing any other smaller company, they wd have bankrupted it decades ago......haha nowadays u see even maxi cabs queuing in normal cab queue.... making a mess of limo/maxi cabs...
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you mean comfortdelgro need to pay only 45bucks to go anywhr in sg?
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nowadays u see even maxi cabs queuing in normal cab queue…. making a mess of limo/maxi cabs…
wow,
even day shift on every routes you see limousine cabbies with tie and smart white long sleeve rounding for street jobs, time had change.
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ya lor , season traveller who arrive at Singapore will know , normal taxi is cheap and good , why pay more for Limo Service , when normal taxi is equally good ?
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one early morning me on advance in hotel.... resting in cab while waiting.... saw a limo cabby also waiting... but he need to dress nicely and stand outside and be ready to receive his pax... when his pax came (an old rich chinese woman), he had to bow, greet her and then hold her hands for a while... wau lan eh.... dun want to say more liao... definitely not the job for me... but one such trip earn $40-$50....
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why? they end up doing this, the other ugly side.
should be the top of the cream as they alway show, with walkie talkie corporate kind of dressup and not the same like what we are.
Are they not the same a taxi driver as vocation. that why? now i knew why you stop driving merz before..ya
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i only drove merc for very short time... no chance to take premium booking.... but i observed: some paxs still think merc cab much ore expensive...one lady when alighting took out $20 and asked me how much... the fare was only $4.4... when on normal call, can sense that paxs are pleasantly surprised that it is a merc cab paxs tend to tip a bit for merc cab... even locals do tip... but as a cabby, i dun really like driving merc... cos makes me feel that i need to take care of the car... and all the inflexibilities.... i drive a cab for the flexibility... like that loh... but some cabbies love merc.... haha
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Nowadays everything changed,There's even 2 Merc Taxis for SIA/SATS staff.I've seen many tourists with big large baggage take buses or Trains even during peak hours.
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Yea..times have indeed changed....