Taking the Taxi in Singapore

Taking the Taxi in Singapore is a great way to go places fast. Although they are not as cheap as taking the bus or the train, they are surprisingly inexpensive compared to other developed cities of the world.

Taking a taxi in Singapore is quite easy (13 September 2010)


Due to government control, the taxi fare has remained the same for the past fifteen years. It's S$2.40 flag fall, for the first one kilometer, and then 10 cents for every subsequent 225 meters. There are also surcharges for taking the taxi during peak periods, public holidays and for passing through the ERP (Electronic Road Pricing) gantries. There are also surcharges if you take the taxi from the airport, Singapore Expo and the Central Business District as well as for telephone bookings. And finally, if you take the taxi between 1:00 am and 6:00 pm, you need to pay 50% over the regular fare.

It is very easy to call a taxi. The quality is fairly the same, regardless which taxi company you choose. It takes just 5-10 minutes from the time of your call for your taxi to show up. That's because most of these taxi companies now use satellite tracking system to speed up the process. Phone booking fare starts from S$4.00 for peak periods, which are between 7:30 am and 9:30 am in the morning, between 5:00 pm and 11:00 pm in the evening of a week day, and S$2.50 for other times and days.

How to hail a taxi

If you're on the street, just raise your hand to hail one down. Outside of rush hour and rainy day, it's fairly easy to get a taxi to stop for you. If you are in a shopping mall, then go find their taxi stand. That's where you are more likely to get a taxi quickly.

Calling a taxi

Here's the phone numbers of various taxi companies in Singapore, in alphabetical order:

List of Sights in Singapore; back to Discover Singapore

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