richardinmotion

Yesterday, I took a very short (2KM) taxi ride to 28HongKong St. Fare on the meter was around $5.40, but when dropping me off, the driver hit a button and the fair went to $11.60. This was at 7:15 PM. He told me it was a rush hour surcharge.

This morning, the trip to the airport at 3:30 AM metered at $21, but again, a button was pushed and it went to $27.

Is this standard?

ExpatSomchai

This explains some of it

http://www.taxisingapore.com/taxi-fare/

mkjr

Wow. Quite the racket.

richardinmotion

Thanks. I don't see anything about a rush hour surcharge on that list. I am so done with taxis in most parts of the world. The hassle and stress are just not worth it.

dsgtc0408

It can happen. The base fare is what it is, but the add ons can include extras for:

- ERP, a toll for going into the Central Business District at peak hours. On your trip to Hong Kong Street, at the time you took this cab, it is likely this would have been charged unless your entire trip was within the zone.
- Booking fee. Did you hail the cab to the airport off the street or did someone call for you? If the latter, this is another add on.
- City zone, for trips starting in the CBD
- Midnight charge, which almost certain got added to your ride to the airport
- And yes, a peak (not rush) hour surcharge.

There are others but these are the ones that I suspect have caused you angst. We who live here can't make heads or tails of the charges either, it's confusing for us too, unfortunately they're legit.

crazycrab955

It's called "peak hour surcharge," and it is on the list. The surcharges vary by operator but are pretty consistent across most/all when you are trying to take a taxi at highest demand times ("peak hour"), originating in the CBD during those times, originating from the airport, or in the hours after midnight.

SirJman

On top of ALL those, there's also non-airport origin fees! MBS has one. Fuji Xerox Towers another. Changi Expo another. I'm sure there are more as well.

Ah, can't forget the non-cash payment fees! A whopping 10% for Credit Cards, 30-50 cents for stored value cards.

Also, Singapore used to be terrible to get a taxi off the street, and since the launch of Smartphone booking apps over the last 2 years, things have become even worse! Cabs will drive around "busy" waiting for a booking, which is anywhere from $2-8 depending on the app/time of day/advance booking. Also good luck getting a cab within 30-40 minutes of the "peak" fee hours. Again, they rather sit idle and pick up a passenger once the fees kick in.

Taxis can be affordable here if you do the fee gauntlet.

mkjr

my racket comment was somewhat tongue in cheek but it appears that it is.... i sure hope they are paid well and the profits dont go to someone else.

SQ325

In SIN at least you wont get cheated as bad as elsewhere. At max its a longer route the cabbie will take.
Ask for a reciept, the surcharges are separetly listed and you can compare to the fee and surcharges displayed in the cab.

invisible

Honestly, I would prefer Singapore taxes regardless of pricing scheme to any city in the world.

- fee rules are written and you can make sense of them if you read in advance
- cabbies speak English, they are polite (I had only one grouchy cabbie over 3 years)
- you can do advance booking (yes, it is $8 more) and they will show up regardless of the situation outside (like rush hour and pouring rain)
- they do give you receipt
- they do ask you which road you want to take. A lot of (visiting) people are get confused by this but they ask it to find out if you want to take the fastest road (with ERP/added charged) or other way to minimize extra charges

Anyone complaining about Singapore taxi system - please try to take taxi from Shinjuku station to Haneda airport in Tokyo or try to get taxi and receipt in KL, Jakarta or Istambul.

richardinmotion

Agreed, taxis most everywhere are very challenging. In the USA, taxis are very predicable, but not so much in other parts of the world. Interestingly, my best taxi experiences have been gypsy cabs in Peru. Cheap, courteous and easy to find.

jpatokal

And why would that be a problem? Japanese cabbies won't speak much English, but "Haneda airport" is one destination where that shouldn't be an issue.

invisible

Do you know how much it would cost?

Today I spent $27 for a taxi from Changi to west coast, including several minutes wait time at one stop. Total trip was 31.5km and from there $3 was airport fee.

Anyone familiar with Tokyo cabs - could you tell how much would it cost to run 31.5km around the city during 1PM-2:30PM on weekdays?

mkjr

agree, probably about 10000Y to go that far.

flipstah

It's a smart way to push you to use their MRT. To be honest, you really wouldn't need a taxi. Everything is well connected.

Only time I used a taxi was from Lavender to Changi because I overslept and was vomiting in the wee hours of the morning. Curse you, ice kachang!

Overall, Singapore taxi system was top notch. Didn't feel like I was being gouged.