ermen

Hi will be looking to travel from JHB to Singapore soon.

I was thinking of two options

1. Uber from JHB to JB Sentral and then cross the border, then take a Uber/Taxi from Singapore side to my destination

2. Uber from JHB to Larkin, then take a Singapore cross-border taxi direct to my destination


which do you think will be cheaper and quicker? I will be arriving into JHB ~1030pm so I do not expect major traffic congestion on the Causeway (or am I wrong?)

invisible

The first option. JHB-Border is 25min ride via Uber and will cost you US $10, even when it is surge pricing which won't be the case at your arrival time.

I would NOT suggest to you to take cross-border taxi while at Johor. Because unless you know, you can't really distinguish where 'real' cross-border taxi is. While at Singapore side you won't have such problem.

Just take taxi to the border, cross the causeway, with both border controls and bus ride won't take more than 20 min and then take taxi at the arrival at Woodland in Singapore.

IAN-UK

If you are in a hurry, why not take a taxi all the way? The airport taxi desk can cope with that.

invisible

You can't take taxi\Uber from JHB or any other place to go to Singapore.
'Official' cross-border taxis can depart only from CIQ\Iskandar. At least this practice was for last xx years.

I WOULD NOT recommend take taxi in Johor or anywhere else in Malaysia where Uber/Grab is available. Taking taxi means that you are encouraging and enriching local cartel, which incites violence by beating up Uber/Grab drivers, where 'meter is broken' in any taxi you get in and you will end up paying 2x-3x of Grab/Uber fare while sitting in 20 y/o cars stinking with cigarette smell.

P.S. I've been living in Singapore for 5.5 years and going to Johor once a month. I know what I am talking about.

IAN-UK

Notwithstanding the monthly visits to the fleshpots of JB ... your assertation is not congruent with my experience. We certainly took a taxi from Senai to Singapore as recently as December last year.

When i was working in Kuching the JB connection was the cheapest way to get to Singapore. The bargain transfer from Senai was the airline bus, but cross-border taxis were always available for those in a hurry (via the second link).

So, knowing that the MH and Air Asia buses no longer provide a direct service into Singapore, we'd simply gone to the taxi/transit desk asked for a car and transport was arranged. We were three, and messing about with Causeway links was not an attractive prospect. And I'd already come into criticism for putting my companions through the JHB connection "just" to save money. JUST!!!!

I think it cost around MYR150 with a bit extra to do something bad, bad, bad - drop us at our hotel rather than the taxi/limo station. It can't have been outrageously expensive or it would be seared on my brain....

ermen

As I understand it:

1. The cross border taxis at Senai are the Johor taxis(if available) and are only allowed to drop you in Queens Road terminus. Which is kinda not where I want to go (will be taking a big detour). I guess what you are alluding to is to do something "bad" and get the Malaysian taxi to drop you at your destination in Singapore.

2. The Singapore cross-border taxis is only available at Larkin terminal. I did not know this has changed to CIQ?


If I could do #1 , maybe that would work

IAN-UK

We were going to the Intercontinental, which is pretty close to Queen Street/Ban San. So there was no diversion, just the driver having to wrestle with his conscience ....

wolf72

Malaysian taxi's cannot carry passengers into Singapore unless they are an airport taxi at Senai. The cost a few year's back used to be RM150 for a drop off anywhere in Singapore.

If time is not a factor for you, then take a uber or grab a car from the airport to downtown JB and then hop on an SBS bus going into SG. You will need to disembark for malaysian immigration and customs and re-board and then disembark again for Singapore customs/immigration.

Anyone attempted to do a Uber car sharing from JB into SG?

invisible

I assume by 'downtown' you mean CIQ/City Square Area.

UberPool does not operate in Malaysia, AFAIK. But considering that ride from Senai to CIQ was like 45RM for UberX with 1.3x surice price - one should not have a problem.

ermen

I just did JB Sentral to JHB airport on the weekend.
Cost me RM42 with 1.7x surge pricing... not too bad a price!

invisible

Yes, contrary to Singapore where surge pricing usually does not happen on sundays, it is opposite in Johor, because good number of people are coming there from Singapore.

Yesterday it was 75 min wait time to get passport stamped at CIQ on Malaysian side and then further 1.5-2h waiting for bus. Fortunately APEC card cut the wait time to 5 min (they still were puzzled by the card issued by US) and instead of waiting for bus, I just crossed the causeway on foot which took just 30 min non-rush walk under sprinkling rain.

On Singapore side everything was efficient as usual - waiting to automated gates and then customs did not took more than 3 min.

ermen

Wow. On Sat 4pm for me it was no wait for the bus (well waited for 1 bus only). Then 15mins acoss the causeway and another 15mins at CIQ.

Yes I can't wait for my APEC card to arrive for moments like this. You think I can bring my family through together though?

invisible

This only happens on Sunday afternoon. If you are coming to Singapore via Woodlands on Sunday, make sure you arrive at CIQ either before 2PM or after 10PM. Otherwise 15-90min wait on passport control and separate 15-90min wait for bus is guaranteed.
No. Each person must have separate APEC card. BTW, APEC card is processed at counter #18 at MY side, but no idea where (if any) on Singapore side.

ermen

Just to circle back on my experience:

I used uber/grabcar from JHB to JB Sentral - then bussed across the causeway. All in all took me 1.5 hours to get to Singapore side from landing on a Sat night.

Some pointers below:

JHB to SIN: Uber was a nightmare. Kept getting cancelled on and drivers kept asking if i was paying cash or negotiating a flat rate with you (if you don't engage / agree they just cancel)... which I couldn't figure out why (uber was around RM26, grab was higher at RM35). In he end I accepted a flat rate from a uber driver of RM35 (without the uber app turned on of course). I had previously wasted 30mins or more with uber which is why I just accepted this "deal".

1. In the end I found out that the price that uber quotes in JHB means that drivers don't make a lot of money. Sentral to/from JHB is a money losing proposition for them. Hence, they want to negotiate with you.

2. He told me to use Grab Car in future - because the rate is higher (fairer in his view which creates a win-win), and drivers will only accept a ride if they want the fare because they know all the details in advance (no more time wasting negotiations)

3. Uber charges by distance and time whereas grab is a flat fare irregardless of time. So if one was in a hurry, it would be better to take the latter because uber drivers have a tendency to go slower. I used grab the next time, and it was true - driver wanted to use the quicker highway but asked for RM2 more for the toll, but it was worth it for me in the end because it shaved 10-15 mins off my journey - so in future request this route and pay the toll if possible)

So in short, one could try to hold out for a lower uber fare (without surge), but you may waste a lot of time "negotiating" and finding a ride (my experience).

Still not the most efficient experience... but this is malaysia...

TheMadeTraveler

Thank you for sharing your experience. If one has to reach to Singapore from JHB airport, Grab Car would be good option.