KUALA LUMPUR: The sharp selling pressure on Wall Street weighed on the domestic market on Wednesday, even as investors shifted their focus from heavyweights to small caps and lower liners.
During recent visits to the Ban San Street Terminal, ST saw a long line of licensed taxis waiting for passengers. - Photo: ST
On the day of their trip, a Malaysian driver showed up punctually to whisk them from their home in the east of Singapore to various attractions in the Johor coastal town of Desaru, before dropping them off at a hotel in Johor Bahru in the evening. “It is convenient as someone is picking me up from my doorstep and I get some privacy from the crowd before I arrive at my destination,” said the 27-year-old, who has used the service at least five times in 2024.In the past two years, the Land Transport Authority has caught 32 drivers for offering illegal cross-border passenger transport services using foreign-registered vehicles. The convicted drivers faced hefty fines, and their vehicles were seized.
“This arrangement ensures that foreign taxis do not ply the roads illegally to provide point-to-point services outside their home country,” LTA said in response to ST’s queries. Kuan said she would not mind paying more for licensed taxi rides – if a bigger car is available. “But they also have to offer point-to-point service and make it easier for us to book the rides on their apps. Otherwise, why do I want to pay so much for the taxi ride only to have to find another car after I reach Larkin?” she added.During recent visits to Ban San on a Friday evening and Saturday morning, ST saw a long line of licensed taxis idling in wait of business.
Then, he would take his passenger across the border to the Ban San Street Terminal and pay about $9 to park his car. Here, he has to get a queue number again and endures another long wait – sometimes 12 hours or more – as priority is given to Singapore taxis. Licensed taxi drivers have long urged the authorities to crack down on illegal drivers, who have an unfair advantage as they are not obliged to pay for licences, memberships, full insurance coverage, mandatory vehicle inspection and taxes.
Transport economist Walter Theseira said it would be challenging for licensed taxis to compete with the illegal door-to-door chauffeured service, which offers a fairly large variety of vehicles, ranging from budget to premium options. But pirate taxis were eventually phased out by the early 1970s, after the Government toughened enforcement, raised diesel taxes for private cars, increased the number of licensed taxis, expanded the public and school bus fleets and created employment for “pirates” under NTUC’s newly formed transport cooperative.“Historically, illegal markets for transport thrive when the legal market has too many barriers to allow legal players to meet demand,” Prof Theseira said.
Associate Professor Lin Weiqiang from the National University of Singapore’s geography department said the licensed taxi operators might also need to rethink their business model, which is “out of date in this internet world of platforms and super apps”. Checks by ST in early September found that several websites, Facebook pages, Telegram groups and over 20 listings on Carousell are still advertising cross-border rides.It also urged the public to stay clear of illegal rides for their own safety.“These vehicles and their drivers are not appropriately licensed or insured, and would likely leave passengers without recourse if they are involved in a traffic accident,” LTA said.
Unlicensed Cross-Border Chauffeured Rides
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