Number of private hire cars in Singapore 2014-2023

In 2023, there were around 82 thousand private hire cars, both self-drive and chauffeured, in Singapore. The rising number of private-hire cars are presumably related to the growing ride-hailing market in Singapore. Taxis and ride hailingAfter Grab bought over Uber’s Southeast Asia business in 2018, it became the biggest ride-hailing company in Singapore. At the same time, its biggest rival, Indonesia’s Gojek, decided to expand its business to Singapore.The expansion in the ride-hailing market saw an increase in the number of private hire cars. However, the size of the taxi fleet in Singapore has been decreasing over the past few years. To sustain both industries, the Singapore government released a Point-to-Point Passenger Transport Industry Bill. This benefitted both the commuters and taxi and private hire car drivers. Now, all taxi drivers can sign up with any ride-hailing platform, allowing them to reach the same pool of users. With these new regulations in place, commuters could be picked up by a taxi when booking a ride on a ride-hailing app. Win-win solution for drivers and companiesHowever, owning a car in Singapore involves many costs that surpass its purchase price. The same car in Singapore could cost five times higher than in Japan. Due to the country’s relatively small size, the Singapore government needs to regulate the motor vehicle numbers in Singapore to manage traffic congestion. To overcome this hurdle, ride-hailing companies provide rental cars to potential drivers who may not be able to afford their own car. This seems to be a win-win solution for both parties.

于2023年，新加坡共有约八万两千辆私人租赁汽车，包括自驾和司机驾驶的车型。私人租赁汽车数量的激增可能与新加坡日益繁荣的网约车市场密切相关。在2018年Grab收购了Uber在东南亚的业务之后，它成为了新加坡最大的网约车公司。与此同时，其最大的竞争对手——印尼的Gojek，决定将其业务扩展至新加坡。网约车市场的扩张导致了私人租赁汽车数量的增加。然而，新加坡出租车车队规模在过去几年中持续下降。为了维持两个行业的持续发展，新加坡政府发布了《点对点旅客运输行业法案》。该法案既惠及了乘客，也造福了出租车及私人租赁汽车司机。现在，所有出租车司机均可注册加入任何网约车平台，使他们能够接触到相同的用户群体。随着这些新规的实施，乘客在通过网约车应用预约行程时，也可能由出租车接载。这一举措为司机和公司双方带来双赢的解决方案。然而，在新加坡拥有车辆的成本远超其购买价格。同一辆车在新加坡的价格可能是日本的五倍。鉴于国家相对较小的规模，新加坡政府需要调节新加坡的机动车数量，以管理交通拥堵。为了克服这一障碍，网约车公司为那些可能无法负担自有车辆的潜在司机提供租赁车辆。这似乎为双方提供了一个双赢的解决方案。