Taxi flag-down rates going up, up, up

ALL content used in this not-for-profit blog remain the property of their respective owners.
http://www.tnp.sg/content/flag-downs-going

Sales manager Dave Lee thought he had it all worked out when he gave up his three-year-old car in January, sure that he could halve the $1,400 he used to spend on loan instalments and petrol.

But punctuality became a problem for Mr Lee and his wife, who each drops off their children before heading to work. The couple resort to taking separate cabs each morning and their transport costs run to around $1,100 a month.

So it is only natural that Mr Lee is sensitive to any news regarding taxi fares, such as the one by SMRT last Tuesday on its latest fleet of cabs with a flag-down rate of $3.80.

Research writer Whang Ee-Mui says: "Some people argue that a 20-cent high is nothing, but if you rely on taxis to move around for work, that can work out to quite a lot in a month."