No doubt, blanket rules are easy to follow, easy to implement and reduces confusion. Yet at the same time, such rules are inflexible and creates discontent as one would already have noticed from the Taxi Stand rule.
Currently, the rule is, pick up and drop off only allowed 50m before and after Taxi Stands. While I entirely agree with the concern over road safety as taxis stop abruptly to pick up passengers or let them alight, cars themselves do the same thing! The way to solve this problem isn't to impose a blanket ban on stopping by roads, the solution is to stop taxis from stopping abruptly. It's very simple, just signal. And i'm very sure most taxis do that nowadays already. Plus it's pretty easy to spot someone waving down a taxi.
As for the concern over taxis stopping in bus lanes, well there are already existing laws against that, laws that most people agree with anyway. So let's not use this as an argument to support the blanket ban.
On top of it all, the fact that the ban was simply implemented, without 1. much prior consultation with taxi companies and their passengers, or 2. any form of public awareness movement to ensure tourists and the portion of the population that don't read the news are aware of this, really does say a lot about the LTA.
I'm rather against this ban actually. Especially since all these comes after a price hike. I mean, paying more for substandard service? Haha!
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