This is an old piece of news I am talking about and it goes back to around July 2007. This piece of news reported that Neo, managing director of Cheng Yong Credit and one of the first parallel importers here has applied for a taxi operating license.

Nothing noteworthy about that, except for the fact that Neo plans to operate an environmentally friendly fleet of 800 taxis and charge drivers the lowest daily rental in town. The reason he would be able to do so is because CNG cars are accorded a 40% discount on additional registration fees [ARF – the main car tax] until end of 2009 because they are deemed environmentally friendly. Johnny Harjantho, managing director of Smart Taxis claims that a 2 litre car running on CNG can cover 22km on $1. A 1.8 litre diesel-run car manages about 14km.

Neo said that Prime Leasing – his taxi company – will set taxi rentals at just $69 per day, versus the current industry average of $90, and fares will be ‘slightly cheaper’. On top of that, a cabby will get a lump sum reward equivalent to the residual tax value of the vehicle if he stays with Prime Leasing for 5 years continuously though the cabby will have to put down a joining deposit of about $5,000 first.

My feelings for this is mixed. First of all, I do not think more operators – or even more cabs – will improve cab services in Singapore. There are roughly 22,000 cabs in Singapore (Mar 2006 figures), and so I disagree with commuters that there is a shortage of cabs, and it is my opinion that we are finding it hard to get a cab, because of the mindset of recalcitrant taxi drivers. Cabbies who whine constantly about their difficulties (e.g. rental and fuel cost) but are yet still selective about fares. Furthermore, the taxi problem is not really a taxi one. (Note: Just a few days ago, I was rejected by a SMRT cabby [SHB5836S] to take me to Jurong from Geylang at around 11pm, after I had supper with some friends in that area.)

Next, what good is 800 cabs Prime Leasing is bringing in going to do to a market of 22000 taxis? That’s roughly 3.6% of the total taxis in operation. In other words, when there’s a full fleet of Prime Leasing cabs in operation, chances are that for every 50 cabs at the taxi stand, only 1 will be a Prime Leasing cab. How are commuters going to benefit from that even if the fares are lower? Above which, the cabbies driving them are going to come from the same pool of recalcitrant shitheads and they will still whine about the overheads – remember the $5000 deposits? – and pull the same old cinderella or ‘on call’ [now, ‘busy’] stunts so they can wait for a cab booking.

Lastly, I read that the main CNG refuelling station is in Jurong Island. In my mind, the image of a cab rushing back to Jurong Island to top up when they are literally low on gas is quite funny. Does anyone know how difficult it is to go to Jurong Island now with all those security measures in place? Just imagine the difficulty in refuelling and yet more reasons for the cabbies to whine about.

While the second CNG refuelling station in Mandai will only be completed next year and that might alleviate the situation somewhat, Mandai isn’t like your Shell or Esso stations nearby! That simply means we need even more CNG stations to make operating CNG cabs viable. And according to this article, it will cost $40 million to put in a network of 10 CNG refuelling stations in Singapore. Now I don’t even have to guess who will end up shouldering the cost knowing Singapore’s gover-min!

So, on the short term, I suspect these cabs are likely going to run on two kinds of fuel, i.e. both CNG and petrol or else it won’t be a surprise finding Prime Leasing cabs waiting for a tow truck along the road because they can’t make it back to the CNG refuelling station in Jurong Island or Mandai. And the reason the alternative will be petrol is simply because of the $6000 diesel tax. Had the alternative been diesel, then Prime Leasing’s can’t sustain the kind of rent they are offering and remain cabby friendly – unless there are big Japanese or Continent Car manufactures providing Neo with cheap cars!

In other words, there won’t be any improvements in Singapore’s cab service with this new operator. And the only other way to solve the cab problem – and in extension the whole mess with our public transport system – will simply be a redesign of the city. The model in which people are rushing from one part of the island to certain locations to work – especially the CBD – in the morning and then back from those places to go home must be put to an end.

But don’t say you don’t expect anyone with the courage to propose this and actually do it. Because the Tali-PAP fxxkers might prove you wrong. They will simply just charge the bill to all of us in the end. Simply put, Singaporeans should just stop whining and vote wisely at the ballot box. Because the more we whine the more new policies we get. And in my opinion none of them are in any way advantageous to us at all! Just take the recent CPF tweaks for example. (You can’t touch this!! * lol *)