In taxi slugfest, commuters gain, but mind the far bigger endgame

SO, the taxi war is escalating. Brutal price warfare is encouraged. After all, the commuter comes first.

Taxis are arguably a semi-public form of transport, filling in the gaps of the public transport system. But businesses and regulators also need to stay ahead of the endgame plans of ride-hailing firms. These potentially involve financial and other products distributed through their platforms, and developments around driverless cars.

The latest news involves a potential alliance between ComfortDelGro, which has more than 15,000 cabs, and Uber, which has a fleet of around 15,000 under Lion City Rental. Grab, meanwhile, has teamed up with the rest of the non-ComfortDelGro taxi companies. Together, they provide 10,000 cabs and 25,000 rental cars. Grab, fresh from a round of additional funding including Japanese car giant Toyota, is now trying to woo ComfortDelGro drivers over with rental discounts.