Even more numbers...

Hmmm... what's this?

The reported average cabbie earnings is a tad too high?

Oh, that was for the case of a person driving 2 shifts (practically 24 hours, or is it 30 hours? The article indicated at the second last paragraph that a full shift is 15 hours) a day!

Ah! Just an honest mistake I am sure, leaving out such an important factor. But wait a minute...

The average figure per shift now is $159, which becomes $85 after accounting for rent and fuel (how about cab maintenance?). Unfortunately, I am not able to take this figure at face value. The simple reason is, I don't know the actual rental fee, and it is not mentioned in the article. I have seen figures anywhere between $70 to $100. (Approx. $81 from the comment of a taxi driver - SL here [near the bottom of all comments].) And I thought verifying information and providing accurate ones is one of a journalist's duty.

Nice try.

More numbers...

Hey, look!

Better wait times, higher cab takings!

Another piece of not so informative "proof" that the fare hike is a good thing.
The "better" wait time could have been due to less people taking cabs. Not enough information in the article to form proper conclusion. (Aside from the one it is pushing.)

As for the higher average takings... let me see...
$307 to $318.
Wow! that's like a 3.6% increase! Erm... wait a minute... was not an average increase of 10% reported just recently??

It does not matter that the demand has dropped, as long as it is met I guess...
(sarcasm, for those who don't get it.)

The so not public transport...

Having taken just 1 taxi ride since the latest "fare enhancement" - approx. $35+ (midnight surcharge) for a 3-stop trip from Toa Payoh to Jalan Jurong Kechil, I read with amusement the following article:

Cabbies are earning more. By approx 10% as it claimed.

And that's after the hike that effectively increased the cab fare by up to 49% in the worst case scenario. (The increase in the basic fare alone is already more then 10% if totalled up)

Hmm, wonder where did the rest of the money went...