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Forum: Have legal point-to-point cross-border ride-hailing services

I refer to the article on illegal cross-border chauffeured rides between Singapore and Johor (

I refer to the article on illegal cross-border chauffeured rides between Singapore and Johor ( , Sept 4). While it is true that these rides have their risks, I do agree that the inability of licensed cross-border taxi services to meet passengers’ demand is an issue. If one needed to, say, travel about 15km from a mall in Johor Bahru back home to Sembawang in Singapore with bulky items, one could get an unlicensed operator to meet this request for a point-to-point ride from the mall’s pick-up point all the way to the flat’s void deck. Using legal services, however, one would have to either travel to Larkin to get a Singapore-licensed taxi back to Sembawang, or take a Malaysia-licensed taxi from Johor Bahru all the way to Ban San Street Terminal in Rochor, and then find a way to get from the city back to Sembawang. It serves no purpose to travel extra distances and change taxis when the immigration centre is relatively near to both the location and destination. We might as well stick to the inconvenience of taking cross-border public buses. Back in 2016, Grab attempted to launch GrabHitch point-to-point cross-border private-hire trips, but this was stopped due to its failure to comply with regulations. While illegal private taxis often cause problems like speeding, queue-cutting and illegal parking, proper regulation and enforcement are the way to go. Perhaps a registration scheme for already licensed e-hailing drivers from both countries could be set up, enabling drivers to take on cross-border point-to-point jobs through e-hailing platforms. These drivers would not be allowed to offer point-to-point transport within a foreign country. They would be suspended from the scheme if they have outstanding summonses from either country. Fair pricing calculated according to traffic, demand and distance on these platforms would make them a more viable option for both drivers and passengers, encouraging illegal chauffeurs to register themselves and driving away demand from the unregistered. Only then will this issue be resolved, with crackdowns on remaining illegal services. With these services integrated through apps, calling a cross-border ride could be as simple as calling a private-hire ride within one’s country, at the convenience of users.