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Trying to hail a taxi on the streets but have no idea if there are any available ones near you?
From 17 December, you can check this with the new Taxi-Taxi@SG smart phone application (app) introduced by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Unlike third-party taxi booking apps which facilitates the booking of taxis, Taxi-Taxi@SG helps commuters who wish to hail a taxi on the street by allowing them to see if there are available taxis nearby.
With this information, commuters can better decide whether to continue waiting for a taxi on the street, walk to a location with more available taxis, book a taxi instead, or make alternative transport arrangements.
Another difference is the universe of coverage: some third-party taxi booking apps also show the locations of taxis, but only those taxis which have signed up with them, whereas Taxi-Taxi@SG shows the location of all available taxis from the 28,000 taxis registered in Singapore.
The app also enables street hail commuters to broadcast their current locations, allowing taxi drivers to find out where there is a high demand for taxis.
Said LTA’s Group Director for Innovation and Infocomm Technology Mrs Rosina Howe-Teo, “This is part of LTA’s on-going efforts to explore innovative solutions to meet various transport needs. Here, we are translating data gathered from the six taxi companies on the locations of their 28,000 taxis into useful information to better match the demand and supply of taxi services. Commuters who wish to hail a taxi can get a quick sense of the number of available taxis near them, and decide whether it may be better to book a taxi instead. Meanwhile, taxi-drivers can find out where there is high demand for taxis and reduce empty cruising.”
The new Taxi-Taxi@SG app is free and is available for download from the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store.
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