By Christopher Tan

Fewer taxis are on the road as weaker demand because of higher fares and belt-tightening have combined to force many drivers to give up their cabs.

Operators estimate the percentage of cabs not rented out to drivers to be more than 10 per cent for some firms.

"Same time last year, only 4 per cent of our fleet was not hired out," said Mr Lim Chong Boo, managing director of Premier Taxis, which has about 2,300 cabs. "Today, it's more than twice that."

Last year, more than 90 per cent of Smart Automobile's 800 taxis were hired out, said managing director Johnny Harjantho. Now it is more like "80-plus to 90 per cent".

Publicly-listed SMRT Corp claimed that less than 10 per cent of its 3,000 cabs were not hired out, while ComfortDelGro Corp said its rate remained unchanged at 3 per cent.

SMRT's cab business, however, is still in the red, while ComfortDelGro's fleet has dwindled from a peak of about 17,000 three years ago to 15,200 today.

There are about 24,400 taxis registered in Singapore ? 2.3 and 6 per cent more than same time last year and in 2006, respectively.

But the number of people who hold a cab driver's licence has dwindled, from 93,000 last year to about 89,000 now.

Industry players said the better takings enjoyed by cabbies when fares were raised last December have been eroded by rising fuel prices, higher ERP charges and a fall in passenger volume.

Mr Teo Kiang Ang, managing director of Trans-Cab, observed: "Drivers are beginning to feel a little stressed these past few weeks."

With the economic crisis, passenger numbers are shrinking further. Daily taxi ridership fell from 991,000 in 2006 to 945,000 last year, following a fare hike in mid-2006. It was 927,000 up to March this year, according to Land Transport Authority data. From April to August this year, average ridership sank further to 921,428.

Premier Taxis' Mr Lim said higher electronic road-pricing expenses had also put off some cabbies.

Apparently, that and high rentals. Both Trans-Cab and Prime Taxis reported that almost all their cabs are matched with drivers. Their fleets are made up largely of lower rental cabs: either smaller vehicles or older models.

Prime's 1.5-litre cabs go for $69 a day, versus $90 for the 2-litre models elsewhere. Part of the rental, amounting to $16,000, goes back to the drivers as bonus at the end of a five-year contract.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on Oct 29, 2008.

For more The Straits Times stories, click here.