On Sunday, I received an advance call booking, where I was supposed to ferry a woman to Changi Airport.
I arrived at her residence eight minutes early but there were already two SMRT taxis waiting at her gate.
Sensing that something was amiss, I checked with the two drivers, and both told me that they were waiting for the same person.
It became apparent to us that she had made multiple bookings with both taxi companies.
I then sent her a text message to inform her of my arrival but received no reply.
Moments later, she came out of her house, boarded the nearest cab and left.
Just as I was about to drive off, a Comfort taxi arrived and stopped outside the same residence.
I checked with the driver and it turned out that he was also there to pick up the same person.
The three of us had made a wasted trip.
This is far from being an isolated incident - it is not the first time for me, and many fellow taxi drivers I have spoken to have told me that this is a frequent occurrence.
The current call booking systems of the various taxi operators allow passengers to make multiple bookings for the same job. There are no checks in place to bar them from doing so.
This leads to inefficiency; the system becomes clogged with "empty" bookings.
As a result, there is a decrease in the number of taxis available to pick up roadside fares.
This loophole allows inconsiderate cab users to continue abusing the call booking system at the expense of taxi drivers.
Every wasted trip is income lost.
I hope passengers can be more considerate and spare a thought for us taxi drivers.
Teo Kueh Liang Copyright 2013 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.
