Safeguarding Livelihoods of Singapore Point to Point Drivers

Oral Reply by Senior Minister of State for Transport, Ms Sun Xueling 

Ms Yeo Wan Ling asked the Acting Minister for Transport what considerations have been put in place to ensure that Singaporean taxi and private hire drivers' livelihoods are safeguarded even if more licences are made available to Malaysian cross-border services upon review of the Cross Border Taxi Scheme.

Mr Ang Wei Neng asked the Acting Minister for Transport 

a.     whether the Ministry is looking into facilitating more point-to-point (P2P) transfers between Singapore and Johor Bahru given the setting up of Johor-Singapore Economic Zone; and

b.     if so, how will the Ministry safeguard the livelihood of Singapore P2P drivers given the large cost disparity of driving Malaysian-registered and Singapore-registered vehicles.

Reply by Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling:

1.     Mr Speaker, may I have your permission to take Questions 1 to 2 in today’s Order Paper together? 

2.     The LTA has been conducting enforcement operations against illegal point-to-point services. Since July this year, the LTA has impounded 107 vehicles whose drivers were caught providing illegal services. We recognise that there is demand from commuters for more convenient cross-border point-to-point (P2P) services. The MOT and LTA have been exploring options to enhance the existing arrangements. For instance, under the Cross-Border Taxi Scheme (CBTS), we are discussing with Malaysia possible options to liberalise the scheme, including to allow Malaysian cross-border taxis to drop off passengers anywhere in Singapore, and Singaporean taxis to do likewise in Johor Bahru. This will provide greater convenience to commuters from both countries. 

3.     To minimise foreign taxis cruising around empty and potentially carrying out illegal trips, these foreign taxis would only be allowed to pick up passengers at designated points so that they do not infringe into the local P2P market. However, for the convenience of commuters, we will identify more pick-up points in both Johor Bahru and Singapore. We will discuss options with the Malaysian authorities on a reciprocal basis. 

4.     We will continue to engage the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association (NPHVA) to take in their suggestions. We are also exploring using location tracking, including ERP 2.0, and other measures to prevent illegal trips by cross-border taxis within Singapore. 

5.     The LTA will continue its enforcement efforts even after enhancements to the existing arrangements are being rolled out.