App wars: LTA takes on GrabTaxi, Uber with new taxi app

It will be called Taxi-Taxi@SG.

Three days after announcing a new regulatory framework for third-party taxi booking applications, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) today revealed that it will launch a new crowd-sourcing application that will better match taxis to commuters.

The app, called Taxi-Taxi@SG, will be launched by mid-December. Through an integrated platform map, commuters can easily locate the number of available taxis near them, and broadcast their positions so taxi drivers can identify the exact locations of potential customers. Taxi drivers can also use the app to cut down the time spent on the roads looking for customers.

The LTA will also roll out new mobile applications on My.Transport.SG. Among these is the Journey Planner feature, which will provide a personalised alarm function that will show a countdown of the number of bus stops before users reach their destination, and alerts them as the bus approaches the selected bus stop.

LTA is also working on improving the estimated time of arrival (ETA) for buses in the MyTransport.SG app. The enhanced feature tracks bus location by the seconds and updates commuters by the minute. 

Commuters will also be able to know if there is seating or standing room available on the selected bus route arriving at the bus stop. This new feature is expected to be rolled out from March 2015.