LTA tries out taxi info system for shorter waiting times at taxi stands
Ever felt frustrated because you had to wait so long before finally getting a taxi at a crowded taxi stand?
That may change soon.
Today (Nov 5), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is commencing a one-year trial of a Taxi Information System (TIS).
The goal of TIS is to facilitate better matching of taxis to commuters.
Seven taxi stands have been selected for the trial. They are located at HarbourFront Centre, Hitachi Towers, Keck Seng Tower, Lucky Plaza, Ngee Ann City, OG People’s Park and VivoCity.
TIS uses heat sensor technology to detect commuters waiting in taxi queues in real-time. Supported by intelligent camera technology, taxi drivers and commuters would be able to view the queue status from the video footage display.
Waiting time to reduce
Based on the information collected, the average passenger waiting time at taxi stands will be calculated and transmitted to the taxi companies' call centres.
The call centres can then broadcast the information to their drivers, encouraging unhired taxis to target taxi stands with high demand.
This will hopefully shorten taxi waiting time for passenger as well as the possibility of empty cruising for taxi drivers.
The initial stage of the trial involves the system alerting taxi companies' call centres automatically when there are 15 or more people in the queue, and when the average waiting time for a taxi is more than 15 minutes.
Commuters will also be able to check how long the taxi stand queue is by viewing view real-time footage at MyTransport.SG.
The real-time footage can also be accessed on the MyTransport.SG mobile phone application.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now