I REFER to last Saturday's letter by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), "3 aims of $1m fund", and wish to point out that the aims cited do not justify LTA's misguided concepts.
First, LTA is well aware of comments by the public on overall service levels in the taxi industry and taxi woes often highlighted in the press. It would help if LTA re-examines the wisdom of deregulating this important transport service to complement buses and trains.
Second, is there a need for LTA to co-fund initiatives with taxi companies that are private enterprises and not even classified within the public transport definition under its purview: Promotional activities of taxi ridership are the sole responsibility of cabbies and operators in the industry.
Third, taxi stands defeat the purpose of premium transport services and downgrade convenience factors to commuters who pay premium fares but are treated unfairly like bus passengers.
I doubt it would help to put up more taxi stands during major events like Formula One.
Simplifying complicated fare structures and waiving Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges might help to improve ridership.
Strictly speaking, taxi services are more "public" in transport utilisation than trains in many respects.
They provide 24-hour door-to-door service, transport the sick, handicapped and aged in emergency, and provide convenient and timely transport for tourists when needed.
Statistics from 2005 show MRT ridership was 1.33 million while that of taxis was nearly one million. No private transport vehicles can match taxi ridership that is close to the MRT to qualify as "public transport" vehicles.
I still cannot grasp the LTA's logic why MRT train services are classified public transport while taxi services that surpass MRT's are not. Perhaps LTA will consider realigning taxis in the public transport system.
