Studies and Projections on Commuter Usage Patterns of Taxis and Private Hire Cars

1 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport (a) whether the Ministry has carried out any studies as well as medium-to-long-term projections on the commuter usage patterns of taxis and private hire cars; (b) if so, whether these findings or projections can be shared with the public; and (c) if no such studies or projections have been made, whether the Ministry will conduct such studies or projections.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: In recent years, taxi ridership had grown by about 2% annually, based on data on taxi trips submitted by taxi companies. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also conducts the Taxi Customer Satisfaction Survey (TCSS) annually, which provides a good understanding of commuter usage patterns and satisfaction with different aspects of taxi services.

These taxi demand trends may change, given the growth in supply and popularity of competing services like those provided by Uber and Grab. However, our data on the chauffeured services industry is relatively scant and we do not yet have any projections for the industry, as chauffeured services' popularity is a recent phenomenon.

To complete the picture, we will be expanding TCSS to include chauffeured services. We are also amending the Road Traffic Act to require chauffeured service providers to provide LTA with trip data. Taken together with the data we have of taxi services, LTA will then be able to more comprehensively study overall commuter patterns and make meaningful projections.