With some passengers shunning taxis and ride hailing services amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, taxi driver Harry Ng said his daily income has fallen some 20 per cent.
“It’s not as bad as how it was during Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome). But it is my main worry today... I feel that it is very quiet now and there are very few passengers around,” said the ComfortDelGro driver who has been plying the roads for the past 25 years.
Taxi and private hire car drivers like Mr Ng are reporting a fall in takings of 30 per cent, said Mr Ang Hin Kee, executive adviser to the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association on Monday (Feb 10).
In fact, there is a sense that drivers fear losing their livelihoods more than the virus itself, said NTA’s president Raymond Ong when asked by the media on what they were more anxious about.
He estimated that the fall in demand was also between 20 and 40 per cent.
post-June 1: life will not be the same