23-04-2017, 12:13 AM
(22-04-2017, 10:21 PM)opmi Wrote: iron rice bowl already...why work so hard....sell all the tough business...collect 5% margin every year from rail...
Agreed. I was asking around when I was taking Grab / Uber / Taxi.
Taxi - No clients except for peak hours (Cab drivers complain massively about no business, on a couple of accounts I asked the how much it has affected them. They mentioned 20-30%, one even mentioned specifically from 4k a month down to 2-3k.)
Grab/Uber - Massive competitions between both companies for clients. Both sides drivers mentioned that the number of promotions has decreased.
Uber - Offered $250 one time bonus for first passenger to if driver shifts from Grab to Uber. Current promotion seems to be a bonus when you hit 40 rides within a certain period of time. Not exactly sure but a full time Uber driver claims that its around a $350 per week.
View this blog for other details:
http://iblogtoshare.sg/earn-uber-driver-...-part-two/
Grab - Offers a bonus of $1,000 when you complete 10 trips within first week of driving Grab. Current promotion is a at least $25 per hour rate (i.e if you get less than $25 of fees, Grab will top up to $25.
View the full details here:
https://www.grab.com/sg/april2017new/
When you compare the prices a consumer takes Uber/Grab vs Taxi, its a cost savings of around 20% during non-peak. Might be slightly more expensive during peak for Uber/Grab but at least you can get them while taxis are all virtually booked or they practice the wait for a booking call method which increases the base cost of the taxi fare during the peak period.
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My point is that with such crazy promotions for Uber/Grab plus lower prices make it so competitive for an over-saturated market of taxis. With investors willing to throw so much money into Uber/Grab to allow them to subsidize consumers and drivers how can the taxi companies compete? There are at least 7 standard taxi companies (not counting limo as per this website: http://www.taxisingapore.com/taxi-companies/).
I think its the right decision for SMRT to throw in the towel.