Commuters more satisfied with taxi, private-hire car services in 2023: Survey

SINGAPORE: Commuters were more satisfied with taxi and private-hire car services in 2023, according to an annual survey conducted by the Public Transport Council (PTC).

Passengers surveyed gave a mean satisfaction score of 8.2 out of 10 – an improvement from the score of 8 in 2022.

“Among the service attributes, there was significant improvement in satisfaction levels for waiting time and ease of booking for both taxi and private hire car services,” the PTC said on Tuesday (Feb 13) when it released the results of the survey.

The satisfaction score for waiting time, which saw the biggest drop in 2022, showed the greatest improvement this round for both taxis and private hire car services.

Other service attributes included in the survey were ride comfort, driver’s knowledge of routes, customer service provided by the driver, safety and taxi stand accessibility.

Most categories recorded a higher satisfaction score in 2023 compared with the previous year.

A total of 1,500 commuters participated in the online survey between Aug 14 and Aug 27.

Respondents were commuters who took taxis and/or private-hire cars three times or more in a typical week and had used the point-to-point services on the same day of completing the survey.

Those who gave a score of 6 and above were deemed to be satisfied with that service attribute.

The PTC said the survey aims to better understand customers’ expectations and identify areas for improvement.

As with previous years, safety continued to be the top priority of commuters in 2023. This was followed by ease of booking and waiting time.

The mean satisfaction score for safety, however, fell slightly for both taxis and private-hire cars in 2023.