Singapore taxis' 'new' peak hour surcharge!
 

For those who travel regularly to Singapore, one of the highlights has always been the somewhat affordable taxi fares. Not any more.. (well, almost not anymore).

All Singapore taxis have now implemented a 35% Peak Hour surcharge in addition to the Airport Pick up fee.

Peak hours are from Mon-Sat 7am-9am, and Mon-Fri 5-7pm. This rate is calculated only on the base fare and does not include the Airport Pick up fee of $3 for weekdays and $5 for weekends. And oh ya, you'll be charged extra for using certain roads/highways/areas too if where you're going is within that restricted area.

All numbers above are in SGD. Currently US$1 is approx SGD$1.43

CBD Surcharge
 

The "peak hours" actually stretches longer than what you have indicated. I remember I have to pay the peak hour CBD pickup fee + 35% surcharge at 11pm on a weekend. Apparently theres also a "outside CBD" drop-off fee of SGD1 if you board the taxi inside the CBD. And on top of all that, theres the ERP toll that is active even in the evenings. I have to say Singapore now has the most complicated taxi fare in the world !

My ride from Orchard Rd to Marina/Esplanade used to be as little as SGD5-6 (with little traffic). On my last visit earlier this year, it was more than SGD13 on a Saturday evening (some traffic) :(

The new rates for Singapore Taxis can increase your costs significantly.

http://www.comfort-transportation.co...s_charges.html
http://www.visitsingapore.com/publis...ion/taxis.html

If I take a taxi from my hotel in the CBD during the evening peak period I pay

$2.80 Meter
$3.00 CBD
$0.98 35% of meter
=$6.78SIN just to jump in the taxi.

To top it off, Singapore Taxis ignore strict regulations. Refusing to pickup passengers often is the most comon one.
Here's a list of offences. I've been a witness to over 1/2 a dozen offences in the last 2 months alone.
Always ask for a reciept. Any information will be printed on the official receipt.
http://www.lta.gov.sg/public_transpo...h(Revised).pdf
Complaints can be registered with the LTA. Your hotel will also help you do this.

Related Question:Taxi or Limo from Changi to Conrad Hilton?
 

Arriving around 8:p.m. -- non-peak. Should I just take a taxi with Mrs. Xfed2001 or splurge for a hotel limo? Big difference in cost?

In my opinion, there's no reason not to take a taxi, unless you arrive at peak hour when the queues can be huge -- and this is not the case at 8 AM. It's a short ride, the cabs are reasonably comfortable, and half price compared to the limos.

What jpatokal said. Also, if I see a long line for regular taxis I'll always just move over to the limo section (used to be $35 flat fee but haven't used it for a while so may have gone up). No need to pre-book anything for a hotel car (which will cost $100 or more in many cases).

My last two trips to Singapore, seems like there's a surcharge of some sort no matter what time you take a taxi. Still reasonable by U.S. standards but not as great a deal as they used to be.

From the airport, I often take the shuttle bus, for SG$11, IIRC.

From the hotel, I take the taxi.

Worst Post,sorry.

jpatokal: Thanks for your comments. Our arrival time has changed; we'll be arriving at 11:40pm. Will this late hour affect our ability to get a taxi for our ride to the Conrad Hilton? Thanks to you again.

Mm, may be a little busy depending on the terminal you arrive in. I'd suggest playing it by ear: try the normal taxis first, and if there's a huge queue, then pop over to the limousine stand instead and book a $35 Merc. Note that even long queues move pretty fast (they can load up to ~8 cabs simultaneously), so I'd only define "huge" as in "spills out of the official queue area".

I arrived two weeks ago at 11:55 p.m. on a UA flight (Terminal 3). Took me no more than five mins waiting to land a taxi. In three visits, it's never taken me more than five mins.

Thanks so much.

Landed At 11:45pm yesterday from Hong Kong on CX 715 which was caused by a 40 minutes delay in hong kong.

The immgration/baggage collection
was slow and when i board the taxi it was already past midnight.

And its interesting seeing how fast the fare jumps

surcharge
 

the taxi surcharge thing is so stupid. I had to wait at a taxi stand in the middle of the city - because you are not allowed to flag down cabs anymore. (in the city) and of course there werent any cabs.. Why? Because it was 4.54pm or something. Once it hit 5pm, and the surcharge comes into effect, taxis from everywhere rolled into the stand.. ridiculous...obviously the govt didnt think properly before they came up with something like this. And why do we have to pay more when we are 100% going to get stuck in a traffic jam? I think the govt wants people to take the subway or something...