SMRT to change entire taxi fleet to electric vehicles in 5 years
SINGAPORE - SMRT aims to change all its taxis to 100 per cent electric vehicles within five years as part of efforts to go green. The first batch of 300 electric taxis will arrive progressively in Singapore from July, the transport operator announced in a statement on Tuesday (April 20). The electric vehicles could include sedans, station wagons and multi-purpose vehicles. SMRT has 1,796 taxis in its fleet, according to the Land Transport Authority in February. SMRT said: "The electrification of the entire taxi fleet is part of SMRT's growth strategy in green businesses under its sustainable urban mobility services arm, Strides Mobility." Besides taxis, other mobility services using electric vehicles such as vans, limousines and buses will also be rolled out. SMRT's transition to cleaner-energy taxis began in 2013, when more than 600 Toyota Prius Hybrid cabs were added to its fleet. Last year, SMRT's fleet became 100 per cent hybrid. SMRT Road Holdings president Tan Kian Heong said: "In line with Singapore's Green Plan, we are excited to be among the first point-to-point transport operators to commit to the deployment of electric taxis on a large scale. "This is a key part of our p...
‘Very few’ requests from commuters to use child booster seats in taxis during trial
SINGAPORE - A trial to equip taxis here with child booster seats has seen a low utilisation rate, with very few requests from commuters to use such seats, Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport Baey Yam Keng said on Thursday (March 4). He was responding to Mr Louis Ng (Nee Soon GRC), who had asked for an update on a pilot programme launched by SMRT Taxis in March last year to progressively equip its fleet of 2,800 cabs with child booster seats. The six-month trial was extended by three months till last December due to the eight-week circuit breaker period, Mr Baey said, and about 1,750 SMRT taxis were equipped with booster seats. The booster seats will remain in these taxis despite the low utilisation rate and SMRT will provide further updates on their usage, he told Parliament. SMRT is the first taxi operator here to offer free child booster seats for its commuters, and Mr Baey said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be glad to consider similar trials by other taxi operators. While private cars and private-hire cars are required to have appropriate child restraints or booster seats for children under 1.35m in height, taxis are exempt from this requirement. Pointing out ...