THE next time you try to flag down a cab, don't just watch out for a particular car model.If you try to do so, be prepared for a long wait as empty cabs whizz by.

Our roads used to be flooded with the ubiquitous boxy Toyota Crowns and Nissan Cedrics, which are not hard to miss.

But times have changed. Cabs these days run the gamut of models and even colours too.

There's the green cab from Smart Automobile, the silver cab from Premier Taxis, the bronze cab from Prime Taxis and the bright red ones from Trans-Cab - all very confusing for commuters.

To add to that, the flag-down rate also differs.

It ranges from $2.80 for the ordinary cabs, $3.20 for the Mercedes-Benz E-class cabs and an extravagant $5 for the Chrylser 300C.The 300C was introduced by SMRT Taxis in August this year.

There are six cab operators in Singapore and about 24,000 cabs plying our roads.

Cab queues have certainly become more colourful of late.

Luxurious

Depending on your luck, you could be taking a ride on popular passenger cars such as the Toyota Wish, Honda Airwave, Hyundai Sonata and Kia Magentis.

Luxurious rides such as the 300C, MPVs like the Honda Stream and even Toyota Hilux pick-ups have got in on the act, earlier confined to bread-and-butter saloon cars.

These days, hopping into a premium Mercedes cab just doesn't feel so special anymore.

Not when you have the 300C - which looks like a Bentley.

The variety doesn't stop there.

Missed cabs

European marques, such as Skodas, Volkswagens, Peugeots and Fiats, have also been seen plying our roads.

No wonder commuters like financial planner, Ms Cindy Ong, are confused about all the variety.She has missed an empty cab or two before because she didn't know that those were cabs - until they drove past her.

Now, this 29-year-old just watches out for the 'taxi' lights on top of the vehicle instead.

She said: 'I find it more difficult to tell a passenger car from a cab these days. Any car can be a cab these days, it seems.

'But it's not so boring. I get to sit in different types of cars.'

This article was first published in The New Paper on Nov 25, 2008.