Channel NewsAsia 2 Jan 08;
SINGAPORE: It was not a good start to the New Year for many Prime taxi drivers.
Many were stuck in long queues because there was a problem with the only compressed natural gas or CNG refuelling station, located on Jurong Island.
A dissatisfied group of taxi drivers gathered outside the Prime Taxis office on 2 Jan to meet their management.
Prime Taxis is one of the smallest and newest players in the taxi market, with just under 100 cabs using Compressed Natural gas or CNG.
The drivers said that on New Year's Eve, a problem developed with the pumps at the only CNG refuelling station on Jurong Island.
So a usually-10-minute wait to fill their CNG tanks with gas, became a two to three hour affair.
Taxi-driver Charan Singh, said: “Problem is that (when the) gas pump station breaks down, we cannot get gas (and) have to queue for 2 to 3 hours. One day too times how many hours I lose? How to continue driving like this? Now the fares are so bad and business is dull - how to manage the rental?"
Another taxi-driver, Tan Ah Kin, said:"We used to drive 10-12 hours one day - now at the very most you can drive 4-5 hours. So the waiting time is going to kill us."
What is worse is that the company has not raised its metered fares and won't do so for at least three months.
The company has only imposed the city surcharge from 1 Jan 2008 but most passengers don't know this.
So the drivers are suffering the same drop in business as other cab drivers by as much as 30 per cent.
In a statement, SembCorp Industries, which runs the CNG station, said one of its two compressors had an unusual malfunction and the spare part that is needed should arrive within a week.
In the meantime, the company is exploring all possible solutions and has advised some users to switch to petrol for now.
Prime Taxi management said it is still working out solutions to alleviate the taxi drivers’ woes.
This includes possible rental rebates and petrol vouchers.
Mr Tan Soon Chye, General Manager of the Taxi Division for Prime Car Rental and Taxi Services, said: “While the gas company is doing their best to rectify the situation, we at Prime Taxis had a dialogue with taxi masters and we have worked out a package to alleviate their problems at this time while the pump is undergoing repair."
One of the main problems that has left taxis idling is that there is only one CNG refuelling station in Singapore which is located on Jurong Island.
However, three more such refuelling stations are expected to open throughout the rest of the year with the next one expected to open in about two weeks time. -CNA/vm
Gas glitch, low takings mean double whammy for Prime taxis
Ng Jing Yng, Today Online 2 Jan 08;
For drivers with Prime Taxis, it is a New Year to forget. Not only have their takings slid since fares were hiked, but they are now seeing red over fuelling problems.
Since Monday, its fleet of taxis, which run on compressed natural gas (CNG), have been held up by a breakdown at the CNG station on Jurong Island.
A fault in one of the two compressors at Singapore's only CNG pump station has meant queues of up to three hours — instead of the usual 10-minute wait — for nearly 100 taxi drivers and 200-plus owners of private CNG cars.
"Each day, refill two times — how many hours do I lose? How to continue driving like this?" taxi driver Charan Singh told Channel NewsAsia.
Another driver, Mr Tan Ah Kin, told the channel: "We used to drive 10 to 12 hours one day, now at the very most you can drive four to five hours. The waiting time is going to kill us."
The alternative for most is to pay for more expensive — and environmentally less friendly — fuel such as petrol, which is twice as costly as CNG.
SembCorp Industries, which oversees the station, told reporters that the issue would take about a week to resolve, when spare parts arrive from Germany.
It advised owners of heavy vehicles and private cars not to take their vehicles to the station, to give taxi drivers priority.
The refuelling woes add to another financial burden for the taxi drivers — a sharp drop in their earnings since taxi fares first went up on Dec 17.
Despite being the sole taxi operator not to raise its flagdown rate to $2.80 — Prime Taxis followed only the new CBD surcharge of $3 from Jan 1 — its drivers saw a similar drop in passenger numbers as their ComfortDelGro counterparts, which this newspaper first reported last month.
Prime taxi driver Ong Lye Chor, 43, told Today: "Even though it was the holiday season, my earnings have dropped about 50 per cent, and now this fuel problem …"
A compensation package comprising fuel vouchers and rental rebates of 10 per cent this month is being worked out as a temporary relief for the double whammy, said Mr Tan Soon Chye, general manger (taxi division) at Prime Car Rental and Taxi Services, after drivers called for a meeting with the company.
But he insisted that the three-month old firm would stand by its "commitment to the public" not to increase fares from until March — which has elicited a mixed response from drivers.
Despite the distinctive bright copper tinge of its taxis, some drivers doubt the public is aware of the move or if it makes a difference.
One taxi driver said his friends had even resorted to displaying a "$2.50" sign to attract passengers, but in vain.
Others, however, such as Mr Lie Chee Kiang, 39, said: "Looking at the current situation now, more passengers are just going to stay away if Prime increases their fares as well."
