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Taxis

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bgd
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Taxis

Post by bgd » Sun, 09 Feb 2014 9:05 pm

I'm an infrequent user of taxis. Had an accident and am now on crutches so I need to use a taxi for all my trips. Seems to take me a minimum of 10 attempts using the app to find a taxi. It never used to be this bad.

Friends in the same area (Siglap) travelling at the same time don't seem to have this problem. I guess I must live in a black spot. A recent black spot at that.

God I hate taxis here.

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PNGMK
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Re: Taxis

Post by PNGMK » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 1:37 am

bgd wrote:I'm an infrequent user of taxis. Had an accident and am now on crutches so I need to use a taxi for all my trips. Seems to take me a minimum of 10 attempts using the app to find a taxi. It never used to be this bad.

Friends in the same area (Siglap) travelling at the same time don't seem to have this problem. I guess I must live in a black spot. A recent black spot at that.

God I hate taxis here.
As a motorbike rider I despise them... more riders are hit by taxis than any other vehicle I'm sure.

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Re: Taxis

Post by Strong Eagle » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 4:13 am

PNGMK wrote:
bgd wrote:I'm an infrequent user of taxis. Had an accident and am now on crutches so I need to use a taxi for all my trips. Seems to take me a minimum of 10 attempts using the app to find a taxi. It never used to be this bad.

Friends in the same area (Siglap) travelling at the same time don't seem to have this problem. I guess I must live in a black spot. A recent black spot at that.

God I hate taxis here.
As a motorbike rider I despise them... more riders are hit by taxis than any other vehicle I'm sure.
I dunno... at least one expects the taxi drivers to cross three lanes to pick up a fare. I think the worst are goods vehicle drivers and those driving high end Mercedes and BMW's.

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Post by stiwi » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 6:46 am

Try taxis which don't have apps. Whenever I fail multiple times to get a taxi from Citi Cab / SMRT, all it takes is one call to Premier taxis (Silvercab) :)

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Re: Taxis

Post by sundaymorningstaple » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 8:49 am

Strong Eagle wrote:I think the worst are ....... driving high end Mercedes and BMW's.
Without a doubt. The are also dangerous to all road users, other vehicle drivers as well (those driving black mid & high end BMW's and Audi's are the worst of the worst). :mad:
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Post by Beeroclock » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 11:33 am

stiwi wrote:Try taxis which don't have apps. Whenever I fail multiple times to get a taxi from Citi Cab / SMRT, all it takes is one call to Premier taxis (Silvercab) :)
I somehow think calling /sms bookings are prioritized over apps. Probably the cancellation rates are much higher on apps, as most people will try book 2/3 at a time and take whichever comes first.

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Post by x9200 » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 12:43 pm

As much as I really don't like the cabbies (as of average) for the reason PNGMK mentioned and probably a dozen more I normally have no problems with booking via application. It must be location dependent.

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Re: Taxis

Post by the lynx » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 1:22 pm

bgd wrote:I'm an infrequent user of taxis. Had an accident and am now on crutches so I need to use a taxi for all my trips. Seems to take me a minimum of 10 attempts using the app to find a taxi. It never used to be this bad.

Friends in the same area (Siglap) travelling at the same time don't seem to have this problem. I guess I must live in a black spot. A recent black spot at that.

God I hate taxis here.
Sorry to hear about your leg. Hope you recover fast!

On the other hand, I am generally satisfied with the taxi booking app. In fact, it is very handy when you don't know where you are booking from because it is able to detect your location via GPS and WiFi.

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Post by bgd » Mon, 10 Feb 2014 7:51 pm

Agreed, when the app works it's great. Just doesn't appear to be many cabs around when I need them. Oh well, Wed is my next hospital visit so might look at some of the suggestions here if the app fails again.

My usual transport is a motorcycle. I seem to have more trouble with VW drivers than taxis.

And I'm on crutches because of those dangerous things called stairs, nothing to do with the motorbike. :)

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Post by Fortan » Tue, 11 Feb 2014 9:59 am

I keep wondering why the hell they need to have their shift, just when everyone is going home from work! ! :???:

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Post by the lynx » Tue, 11 Feb 2014 10:10 am

Fortan wrote:I keep wondering why the hell they need to have their shift, just when everyone is going home from work! ! :???:
Yes, the 5-to-5 shift is very troublesome.

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 11 Feb 2014 10:16 am

Fortan wrote:I keep wondering why the hell they need to have their shift, just when everyone is going home from work! ! :???:
Good question lol. Do you think it might be so one shift gets the pm rush-hour, and the other the am? Imagine having say an 8am-7/8pm shift, you'd be cleaning up I'd have thought.

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Post by Sergei82 » Tue, 11 Feb 2014 10:37 am

Yes, it my take more than one hour of waiting in a taxi queue somewhere near MBFC around 6 pm: every taxi driver is just going wherever they want themselves! (changing shifts) I'm increasingly afraid of taxis here - always a chance you may lose an hour waiting in a hot humid weather (MRT is 20 times cheaper!)

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Post by Fortan » Tue, 11 Feb 2014 11:46 am

Sergei82 wrote:Yes, it my take more than one hour of waiting in a taxi queue somewhere near MBFC around 6 pm: every taxi driver is just going wherever they want themselves! (changing shifts) I'm increasingly afraid of taxis here - always a chance you may lose an hour waiting in a hot humid weather (MRT is 20 times cheaper!)
Same thing all over the central parts of Singapore. Here in Tanjong Pagar it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to get a taxi around the time I get off work. I quite frequently have dinner meetings starting at around 6 PM in various hotels and getting from here to any place is a pain.

There should be a law stating that Taxi drivers can't refuse a passenger at any given time. If your shift is over, return immediately.

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Post by JR8 » Tue, 11 Feb 2014 11:55 am

Fortan wrote:There should be a law stating that Taxi drivers can't refuse a passenger at any given time. If your shift is over, return immediately.
Agreed. I don't know where the idea crept in of being able to accept or decline a fare at whim. Is that legal here? I know it's most definitely not in London (home of the Hansom cab etc).

Perhaps a system will arrive, a la Tokyo. During rush hour, you hail a cab with 2, or 3 fingers clearly out. I.e. 'I will pay 2, or 3 times the metered fare'.

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