PHUKET: In his farewell message yesterday, Governor Nisit Jansomwong encouraged people to use GrabTaxi to improve transport options across Phuket.
Governor Nisit told his final meeting with officials at Phuket Provincial Hall that illegal black taxi drivers and high fares in Phuket impacted on both tourists and local passengers.
Tourists were often overcharged for rides while local Phuket residents were often unable to get taxis outside the popular tourist areas, and in any case unable to afford them.
While 150 vehicles had registered with Phuket's GrabTaxi service so far, only 44 of those vehicles had passed all internal checks and were operating across Phuket.
Phuket's premium GrabCar service using higher end cars has 200 vehicles registered, but only 45 have passed all required checks.
Governor Nisit said the low number of vehicles passing the checks was due to local drivers having problems using the GrabTaxi application.
He said trainers from Bangkok would be coming to help Phuket drivers soon.
Governor Nisit said he hoped that most black taxis would change over to GrabTaxi in the next one to two years.
Authorities believe that the smart phone application-based service is the means to achieve a subtle taxi ''revolution'' on the holiday island.
The GrabTaxi service started in Phuket on July 20 this year, and the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office sets rates.
The strength of the GrabTaxi service is that passengers are able to obtain an estimate of the fare cost at the time of booking.
Meter flagfall rate is 50 baht, however if there is a traffic jam and the taxi cannot move at more than 6km per hour, the meter will charge one baht a minute.
Passengers are charged a booking fee of 30 baht that covers the driver's expense in going to the pick-up point.
Drivers only start their meters when a passenger is inside the vehicle.
Pick-ups from Phuket International Airport require advance bookings and incur an airport surcharge of 100 baht on top of the booking fee.
GrabTaxi recommends passengers make a booking 15-20 minutes before your preferred departure time ''due to the small fleet of taxis'' currently operating in Phuket.
Would-be passengers can download GrabTaxi for free via App Store, Google Play Store and Blackberry World.
Governor Nisit told his final meeting with officials at Phuket Provincial Hall that illegal black taxi drivers and high fares in Phuket impacted on both tourists and local passengers.
Tourists were often overcharged for rides while local Phuket residents were often unable to get taxis outside the popular tourist areas, and in any case unable to afford them.
While 150 vehicles had registered with Phuket's GrabTaxi service so far, only 44 of those vehicles had passed all internal checks and were operating across Phuket.
Phuket's premium GrabCar service using higher end cars has 200 vehicles registered, but only 45 have passed all required checks.
Governor Nisit said the low number of vehicles passing the checks was due to local drivers having problems using the GrabTaxi application.
He said trainers from Bangkok would be coming to help Phuket drivers soon.
Governor Nisit said he hoped that most black taxis would change over to GrabTaxi in the next one to two years.
Authorities believe that the smart phone application-based service is the means to achieve a subtle taxi ''revolution'' on the holiday island.
The GrabTaxi service started in Phuket on July 20 this year, and the Phuket Provincial Land Transport Office sets rates.
The strength of the GrabTaxi service is that passengers are able to obtain an estimate of the fare cost at the time of booking.
Meter flagfall rate is 50 baht, however if there is a traffic jam and the taxi cannot move at more than 6km per hour, the meter will charge one baht a minute.
Passengers are charged a booking fee of 30 baht that covers the driver's expense in going to the pick-up point.
Drivers only start their meters when a passenger is inside the vehicle.
Pick-ups from Phuket International Airport require advance bookings and incur an airport surcharge of 100 baht on top of the booking fee.
GrabTaxi recommends passengers make a booking 15-20 minutes before your preferred departure time ''due to the small fleet of taxis'' currently operating in Phuket.
Would-be passengers can download GrabTaxi for free via App Store, Google Play Store and Blackberry World.
WOW!!!!!!!
Posted by Nicke on September 30, 2015 09:13
Editor Comment:
If you say so, Nicke.