Incentives for Taxi Drivers to Continue Offering Street-hail Services to Cater to Seniors
Ministry of TransportSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns MP Mr Yip Hon Weng’s inquiry into collaborative efforts and incentives to ensure street-hail taxi services remain viable and accessible for seniors. Minister for Transport Chee Hong Tat highlighted measures to improve taxi viability, such as allowing the registration of used vehicles and extending the statutory lifespan of taxis to moderate rental costs. The Land Transport Authority has also reduced taxi vocational license fees and training durations to attract more drivers and increase the supply of street-hail services. These regulatory adjustments aim to manage operating costs for operators while ensuring an adequate fleet exists to meet the specific needs of elderly commuters. Additionally, the upcoming P2P Inclusivity Co-funding Grant will encourage ride-hail operators to develop technological solutions that further improve service accessibility for seniors.
Transcript
59 Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Transport (a) what collaborative efforts has the Ministry undertaken with taxi operators to ensure that street-hail taxi services remain a viable option for seniors; and (b) whether Ministry is aware of any incentives or support systems in place to encourage taxi drivers to continue offering street-hail services for seniors.
Mr Chee Hong Tat: Only taxis are allowed to provide street-hail services. Hence, it is important to have an adequate supply of taxis to meet the demand for street-hail services, including for seniors.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) is introducing measures to improve the commercial viability of taxis by reducing the regulatory differences between taxis and private hire cars. As part of the measures announced under the point-to-point transport (P2P) review, taxi operators will be allowed to sell taxis more than three years old and register used vehicles as taxis. These provide taxi operators with more flexibility to manage their fleet size and operating costs. Previously announced measures, such as the extension of taxis' statutory lifespan, will also help to reduce operating costs and moderate rental costs for drivers. We have also reduced the course fees and duration for the taxi driver's vocational licence curriculum. Together, these measures aim to encourage greater growth in the taxi fleet and attract more individuals to become taxi drivers, which can increase street-hail availability.
Beyond street-hail services, LTA is also exploring ways to meet the needs of senior commuters via ride-hail services. We will introduce the P2P Inclusivity Co-funding Grant later this year to provide co-funding for ride-hail operators to develop solutions that improve the accessibility of their services.