LTA gives taxi companies six more months to meet Taxi Availability standards

Taxi companies have the next six months - from July 2013 to December 2013 - to meet Taxi Availability (TA) standards before fines are imposed by the Land Transport Authority (LTA). Since the implementation of the TA standards from January 2013, LTA has worked closely with taxi companies to better understand their concerns and constraints, as well as their plans to improve their TA performance.

While some taxi companies were able to meet TA standards, others have given feedback that they need more time to adjust their operations and encourage their drivers to better utilise their taxis.

Under the new TA standards, up to 70 percent of each operator's fleet must be on the road during the peak hours on top of fulfilling a daily minimum mileage of no lesser than 250km. In the first four months of 2013, Comfort, CityCab and SMRT have been consistently meeting the standards, while Premier and TransCab did not meet the standards during the shoulder peak periods of 6:00am to 7:00am.

Likewise, Comfort, CityCab and Premier have consistently met the minimum daily mileage of 250km for 70 percent of its fleet from January to April this year. SMRT met the standard in March and April 2013, while TransCab met the requirement only in April.

Taxi operators Smart and Prime failed to meet both criterias of the TA.

In addition, LTA has launched a new portal to facilitate hirers in finding relief drivers and vice versa. Taxi hirers and relief drivers can use the portal to look for suitable partners so that the taxis can be better utilised.