home 쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES MONDAY, JUNE 29 2009 PAGE B3
Cabs at airport
do ‘disappearing
act’ on weekends
Some hold back from
queues till surcharges
kick in at 5pm
BY MARIA ALMENOAR
& WEE JUN KAI
SOME taxis are holding back from joining
the queues at Changi Airport just before
5pm on weekends so that they can collect
the higher surcharges which kick in after
that time.
Taxi coordinators at each of the three
main airport terminal taxi stands say they
have noticed the flow of taxis slowing to
a trickle between 4.45pm and 5pm.
Said a coordinator at Terminal 3, who
did not want to be named: “We wave at
them to come forward but some just ig-
Mr Paul Lee, 33, and his wife Dorothy, 38, with sons Kyan, six months, and Kellen, two, at an East Coast Park walk yesterday. ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
nore us and stay put.”
There are two coordinators at each ter-
minal directing taxis from a waiting line
into vehicle bays in front of the queues.
From 5pm to midnight on Fridays, Sat-
urdays and Sundays, passengers pay an
airport surcharge of $5. At other times, it
is $3.
From 5pm to 8pm from Mondays to
Saturdays, taxis also get a 35 per cent
peak-hour surcharge on top of the me-
tered fare.
This means a fare of $9 after 5pm on a
Friday or Saturday, plus the 35 per cent
surcharge and $5 airport surcharge,
would become $17.15.
A Straits Times check at Terminal 2
yesterday found the queue, at least
20-deep at any time, moving smoothly
until 4.55pm.
Suddenly, there were no taxis in the
waiting bays and loud honking could be
Just before 5pm on weekends, some taxis at Changi Airport’s Terminal 2 wait at the side or take
their time to pull into the bays. ST PHOTO: LIM WUI LIANG
heard from the line of cabs, as a number
of them slowed down and started taking
their time to pull into the bays. They
were overtaken by others, and by 5pm,
the smooth flow of taxis was restored.
Cabby Abdul Karim, who has been ply-
ing the roads for almost a year, can under-
stand why some cabbies do it.
“We wait in the line for an hour or
more and it’s a big gamble. Some passen-
gers may want to do only a short distance
so we really lose out. In these tough
times, those few dollars make a differ-
ence,” he said, adding that he did not re-
sort to such tactics.
Said Miss K. Shelva, 28, an Indian na-
tional who is here on holiday: “We were
the only ones in the queue, so we thought
there’d be a taxi waiting for us but there
was a slight delay.”
The largest cab company here, Com-
fortDelGro, said it had not received any
complaint but added that it would moni-
tor the situation so “drivers do not pick
Month-long family
events draw to a close
FAMILIES cheered, ate, skated and
play-acted as rock stars in the Xbox 360
game Rock Band as part of the month-
long National Family Celebrations that
drew to a close yesterday.
An audio-visual performance by the
National University of Singapore’s Wind
Symphony, a 2.2km leisure walk along
East Coast Park and a fireworks display
rounded off the events yesterday, the last
day of the school holidays. Organisers
said about 220,000 people took part in
284 activities and events over the month.
Mr Lim Soon Hock, chairman of the
National Family Council, which organ-
ised the celebrations, said the events
were opportunities to involve the whole
family.
“It’s timely to organise these events
for families to share experiences, bond
BIDING THEIR TIME
“We wave at them to come
forward but some just
ignore us and stay put.”
A coordinator at Terminal 3, who did not
want to be named, on cabbies who were
waiting for the higher surcharges to kick in
at 5pm
and choose passengers”.
Those who are found guilty of doing so
will be disciplined, spokesman Tammy
Tan said.
Commuters have had problems with
“disappearing” taxis in the past. Many
cabbies would not stop to pick up fares
from 11.30pm to midnight, so that they
could collect a 50 per cent surcharge on
the metered fare which started after 12am.
Companies then introduced a tiered
midnight surcharge to combat the prob-
lem. This solved the problem for a while
but a change in the fare structure in De-
cember 2007 reverted to a 50 per cent sur-
charge after midnight.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Singa-
pore said it had deployed auxiliary police
to patrol the taxi holding areas to deal
with the problem.
mariaa@sph.com.sg
junkai@sph.com.sg
and rediscover each other,” he said.
Despite the economic downturn, at
least 143 companies provided sponsor-
ships in cash or kind, or offered privileges
and discounts for families.
This is the 24th year of the celebra-
tions with the organisers reaching out to
children, teenagers and their families.
Mr Paul Lee, 33, and his family took
part in their first family event in the
2.2km walk. “We were so happy to go out
together. Our children, especially the
elder one, were so excited,” said the fly-
ing instructor.
Minister of State for Community De-
velopment, Youth and Sports Yu-Foo
Yee Shoon was guest of honour at the
closing ceremony yesterday.
JESSICA JAGANATHAN