Is CDG management do the right things retain their drivers (partners)?
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from AR 2016
Taxi
ComfortDelGro Taxi remained Singapore’s largest taxi operator with a combined fleet of 16,822 Comfort and CityCab taxis.
Despite strong competition, ComfortDelGro Taxi’s volume of booking jobs remained strong during the year. It clocked 10 million booking
jobs on 15 April 2016 as its taxi booking app gained in popularity, accounting for half of total booking jobs.
An upgraded despatch algorithm and active marketing promotions also helped boost demand. New records were also set for the highest number of successful booking jobs achieved in a single day.
In November 2016, ComfortDelGro Taxi clocked 30 million booking jobs for the second consecutive year. Not only was the 30 millionth passenger rewarded with a promo code worth S$300, the lucky cabby, who had picked the passenger up, also received S$300 worth of vouchers. To mark the 1 Includes sub-contractors’ buses annual report milestone, ComfortDelGro Taxi waived S$8 off the metered taxi fare for the first 1,000 passengers, between 3pm and 3am for seven days, and waived the call levy fee of all bookings that its taxi drivers accepted over two days.
Since the ComfortDelGro taxi booking app was launched in 2010, it has been downloaded 3.66 million times. Through it, passengers are able to rate the service levels of taxi drivers the moment trips are completed. In 2016, many of the taxi drivers were encouraged by the five-star ratings that they had received.
ComfortDelGro Taxi, which was the first taxi operator to accept MasterPass™, a cardless payment in 2015, became the first taxi operator in 2016 to
accept mobile phone payments such as Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Android Pay. These new payment modes, coupled with the return of VISA cards, resulted in a 10% growth in cashless payments.
As part of its marketing efforts, ComfortDelGro Taxi went on social media in 2016 – Twitter (@CDGtaxi_sg) in January; Instagram (@cdgtaxi) three months later in April; and Facebook (@ ComfortDelGroTaxi) in October 2016.
More than 80 promotions, offering discounts off taxi fares, were pushed out across these platforms. To-date, over 36,000 followers have liked these accounts.
Always conscious of its carbon footprint, ComfortDelGro Taxi upped its Green quotient by trialling two Toyota Prius petrol-electric hybrid taxis
in January 2016, and rolled out 200 more by the end of the year. Another 1,000 Prius taxis are expected to replace the Hyundai Sonata taxis over the next two years. The Company also started to trial the Hyundai Ioniq petrolelectric hybrid taxi, which is similar to the Prius.
ComfortDelGro Taxi continued to look after the welfare of its taxi drivers. One of the ways in which it did so was to
move away from the traditional fixed rental business model to one in which the Company co-shares revenue risk with its hirers. This was a welcome move by taxi drivers and as at end-February 2017, over 2,200 of them have made the switch to this new rental scheme.
A third round of health screening and coaching sessions under the “Check Car, Check Body” health screening and intervention programme, which was launched more than two years ago, was conducted in July 2016. About 3,900 taxi drivers participated. Since its launch,
some 11,000 taxi drivers have benefited from the programme.
In addition, the free access that taxi drivers have to ActiveSG facilities such as gymnasiums and swimming pools every Wednesday was extended for another two years until the end of 2017. The Company also partnered ComfortDelGro Insurance Brokers Pte Ltd and AXA Insurance Singapore to offer taxi drivers free eye checks.
The Company continued with the tradition of extending financial aid to its taxi drivers by helping them defray the educational fees of their children.
In 2016, 1,531 Primary and Secondary level students received over S$220,000 worth of study achievement awards,
more than double the number of students who qualified in 2015.
In December 2016, ComfortDelGro Taxi launched its
first-ever Cabby Hardship Fund to assist its taxi drivers and their immediate families who require financial aid arising from death, total and permanent incapacity, as well as serious chronic medical conditions. Managed by a committee made up of Management staff and the Company’s taxi representatives, it assesses all aid requests and disburses the funds based on the merits of each case.
ComfortDelGro Taxi kick-started the Fund by donating 50 cents for every booking job completed by taxi drivers on Christmas Day and collecting
donations from staff. Over S$50,000 was raised as a result.
For all its efforts, ComfortDelGro Taxi was named the Favourite Taxi Agency at the Travellers’ Choice Awards by TripAdvisor for the third year running.
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