A recent survey by the Public Transport Council found that passengers' satisfaction with taxi and private-hire car services dropped in 2022, with  the score for wait time falling the most. 

Related:

FEWER PASSENGERS ALONG THE ROAD 

Even as street-hailing passengers struggle to get a ride, drivers, too, struggle to pick up passengers along the road.

Data from the Land Transport Authority  revealed a huge difference between the amount of street-hailing and ride-hailing trips over the last two years. 

The average daily number of ride-hail trips was about four times the average daily number of street-hail trips for each month in 2021, with this gap widening in 2022. 

In November 2021, for instance, the average number of daily street-hail trips was 112,000, compared to an average of 451,000 daily ride-hail trips. That same month in 2022, the average number of daily street-hail trips sunk to 97,000, while the average number of daily ride-hail trips jumped to 496,000. 

Those who flag down a taxi by the road are " usually above 50 years old" , pointed out Mr Chan.

" There is the occasional younger passenger, but they' re usually waiting at a taxi stand," he said, highlighting the passenger who had waited for 40 minutes.

Another driver, who only wanted to be known as Mr Chia, agreed that " very few flag down" his taxi these days. " Almost all use the (ComfortDelGro) app and phone," the 72-year-old said.

While fewer street-hailing passengers have not affected Mr Chia' s take-home salary much, Mr Chan has seen his pay dip by several hundred dollars a month. But the latter does not want to get onto ride-hailing apps, as there is " too much competition" there.

" I' m an old-timer already, I don' t want to fight with others. My salary will definitely be less (without a ride-hailing app), but I' ve accepted it," he said. 

Related:

SURGE PRICING 

Those who choose to hail a cab by the road, despite having ride-hailing apps installed on their phones, said the surge pricing on ride-hailing apps is a turn-off. 

Ms Wai once checked that a ride from Newton to Serangoon would have cost her S$22 to S$25 on a ride-hailing app during peak hour. In the end, she hailed a taxi along the street for S$12.

" The ride-hailing apps have been more expensive recently, with Grab being the worst. There is almost always a surge pricing, 30 to 80 per cent more than the usual. The few times I managed to flag down a cab, it' s 30 per cent cheaper than any of the (ride-hailing) apps," she said. 

" And it' s one thing to be expensive, but by the time I finally get a taxi or a ride via the apps during (peak hour) timings, I could have just taken public transport. It' s even worse when it' s raining," she added. 

Ms Pang only uses the CDG Zig app and is not on other ride-hailing platforms. 

" I think I downloaded the Grab app in 2020 only. And when I  used it, the prices were always higher than ComfortDelGro and (the ride was) always slower to arrive," she said. 

Likewise,  Mrs Diane Tan, a 32-year-old mother, estimated the wait time for a Grab ride to be longer than hailing a cab along the main road or at a taxi stand these days.

While she tries to use public transport as much as possible and hardly uses ride-hailing apps anymore due to inflation, she noted that when there is a price surge on these apps and it is not during peak hour, taking a " normal cab might be cheaper" . 

" Anyway, things like (the availability of) e-payments are no longer differentiating factors, because if I flag down a cab, I can still pay by card and so on," she added.