Taxi offers high-end door-to-door service. You can get a taxi in many ways, namely:

• Hailing one along a road (except roads in the Central Business District (CBD) with public buses plying);
• Queuing for one at a taxi stop or stand; and
• Through telephone booking.

Most passengers hail a taxi along the road or wait for one at a taxi stop or stand where available. 

Taxi stands ensure the orderly queuing of passengers waiting for taxis. Taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers in the vicinity of a taxi stand but they are, however, allowed to alight their passengers in the vicinity of taxi stands. A taxi-stand is easily recognised by either of the following signs.

Taxi stands are generally located along roads (other than those with taxi stops) where the demand for taxis is high. You may also wait for taxis at designated areas within the premises of most major commercial, retail and office buildings. Most MRT stations also have taxi stands near the station entrances.

As taxis may not be readily available during the morning and evening peak periods (7 am to 9 am and 5 pm to 11 pm) and long queues are not uncommon at popular or high-demand locations, you may wish to consider making a telephone booking for one. However, there may be times when the demand for taxi bookings is also exceedingly high, e.g. during a heavy downpour or festive seasons. Hence, it would be advisable to book a taxi at least half an hour or even up to a day in advance to guarantee its availability.

Generally, you can hail a taxi anywhere along the road (except along roads in the CBD with public buses plying) as long as it does not result in a traffic violation or endanger the safety of other road users. There are also specific locations where a taxi cannot stop to pick up or alight passengers, such as along bus lanes during their operational hours, lanes with double zig-zag lines, and at bus stops and all public roads and side roads in the CBD.

Bus Lane	Double Yellow Zig-Zag Line
Bus Stop With Bay	Bus Stop Without Bay

Taxis are not allowed to pick up or alight passengers along roads in the CBD where buses ply between 7am to 10pm from Monday to Saturday, other than a public holiday. They are required to do so at taxi stands/stops and driveways of buildings.

Please click here to view the list of taxi stands/stops and pick up/drop off points in the CBD and their location codes.

LTA has put up distinctive signs at every taxi stand in the CBD so that taxi drivers and commuters can recognize them easily. The taxi-stands/stops are easily recognisable by the following sign.

LTA has been working with hotels and shopping centres to improve taxi availability as part of their overall service to their guests and customers. This includes better traffic management, putting up call booking information at the taxi stands, and helping their customers, especially foreign visitors, to make call bookings for taxis.

The following link shows the latest survey results on the average waiting time at major taxi stands in the city at hourly intervals between 5 pm and 11 pm.

Waiting Time at taxi stands

If you find queuing at the taxi-stop or taxi stand a hassle and prefer to book for a taxi, you can arrange with a taxi company for a taxi driver to pick you up at the taxi-stop, taxi stand or off the road such as at nearby carparks, side roads and in the premises of a building.

If you wish to book a taxi, you may call the hotlines of the following taxi companies:

The taxi booking numbers are also displayed on the side and rear of the taxi body.

Common Taxi Booking Number

Taxi commuters can now make a taxi booking with just one number, 6-DIAL CAB (63425 222). The aim of this common number is to make it easier and more convenient for taxi commuters, especially tourists, to call for a taxi in Singapore, as they need only to remember one number. The common taxi booking number complements the taxi companies' call booking systems. The respective taxi companies' call-booking hotlines will continue to be in use.

Read here to find out more.

To book a taxi, simply follow the 4 steps below:

• Call the telephone booking hotline of the taxi company
• Inform the operator of the pick-up location
• Note the taxi registration number given by the operator (e.g. SHA1234P)
• When the taxi arrives, confirm with the driver on the booking and your destination

Please be at the pick up location as soon as possible after the booking. This is because the taxi may leave the pick-up point or accept another booking if the driver is not able to locate you at the pick-up point after a certain period of time.

For some taxi companies, the computerized booking system may also generate a “Call-out” to the phone from which you made your telephone booking to notify you that the taxi had arrived but the driver was unable to locate you at the pick-up location. If you miss your booked taxi, please contact the operator again to arrange for another one.

All taxi fares are metered. Other surcharges such as Midnight / Late night, Peak Period, Public Holiday, Central Business District (CBD) and other location related surcharges are also applicable. To find out the fares and surcharges by the different taxi companies, you may check with the respective taxi companies’ hotlines or from their website appended below:

When hailing a taxi along the road or queuing for one at a taxi stop or stand, you can check whether the taxis are available from the signs displayed. The most prominent sign is the taxi roof-top sign, which generally comes in two designs, the simple roof-top sign and the LED display sign.

The first is a simple roof-top sign that shows the word “TAXI”. This sign is lit (although it may only be visible at night) when the taxi is available for hire, and turned off when hired. When the taxi is not for hire, the “TAXI” sign would be covered by another orange sign stating “NOT FOR HIRE”.

For taxis using the simple roof-top sign, you may also observe that the taxi driver may at times, display on the front windscreen the “ON CALL” sign or a location sign (e.g. “Tampines”). The “ON CALL” sign shows that the taxi has received a telephone booking and is not available for hire.  When the location sign is displayed, it means that the driver is changing shift and you may hail it only if your destination is at or along the way to the location displayed.

For taxis that use the LED display sign, the LED display will show the taxi’s availability status.  Typically the word “TAXI” would appear in green when it is available for hiring. The words “Hired”, “On Call” and “Busy” would be displayed in red when it is not available. When the driver is changing shift, the location may also be shown on the LED display sign.

If you wish to report a complaint against the service of a taxi driver or provide feedback, you may contact the customer service hotlines of the respective companies.

Alternatively you may wish to contact the Land Transport Authority (LTA) at 1800-CALL-LTA (1800-2255-582). Depending on the nature of the complaint or feedback, LTA will follow up with an investigation or refer it to the taxi company, in accordance with the LTA’s disciplinary system for taxi drivers. Details can be found in the Vocational Licensing Points System handbook.

	English Version
	Chinese Version
	Malay Version
	Tamil Version

To lodge a complaint, you need to furnish details such as the taxi’s licence plate number, date, time and a brief account of the incident.

Last Updated on 05/11/2008