In Parliament
Written Reply by Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung to Parliamentary Question on Regulation of Driver Assignments by Private Hire Car Operators to Minimise Unnecessary Travelling Time by Drivers and Pollution
2 November 2020
This article has been migrated from an earlier version of the site and may display formatting inconsistencies.
Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Transport
a. whether LTA regulates how private hire car operators carry out their driver assignments for all booked trips;
b. if so, whether LTA requires private hire car operators to assign booked trips to their drivers nearest to the pick-up locations, to minimise unnecessary travelling by drivers; and
c. if not, whether LTA will consider having such requirements to minimise unnecessary travelling time and pollution.
Reply by Minister for Transport Ong Ye Kung:
1. LTA does not regulate how private hire car (PHC) operators assign booked trips to their drivers. PHC operators have their own algorithms, but commercially, it will make sense for them to match passengers to available drivers who are closest to them, so as to minimise passengers' waiting time and maximise the trip allocations on their platforms