From The Straits Times    |
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Ever thought that high cab fares would make taxis unpopular with tourists? Think again.

Based on a recent Hotels.com survey, taxis that were ranked as the top five travellers’ favourites are among some of the most expensive globally.

Nearly 5,000 correspondents from 23 different countries were polled in July 2011 by Hotels.com. The taxi survey’s ranking criterion were based on seven categories, including safety, friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving and knowledge of the area.

Despite being commonly perceived as the costliest internationally, London cabs were voted as the best cabs in the world.

According to figures provided by the Transport for London website, it can cost between £41 to £80 (approximately S$81 to S$158.20) on a 30 to 60 minute ride from the London Heathrow Airport to central London.

Cabs in other cities in the top five — New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore — hardly come close to the popularity of London taxis. These cities only garnered between six to nine percent of the votes each, whereas London easily tops the list with 28 per cent of votes.

 

So how did Singapore cabs fare? Hotel.com survey correspondents ranked Singapore cabs as the fifth best in the world. Bangkok comes in sixth place.

The cause for such results? Most travellers regard safety as the most important in terms of taxi ranking preferences.

Although Bangkok’s tuk-tuks were favoured for its cheap fares — 30 per cent voted it as being the best value for money — these cabs fared poorly when it came to the categories of cleanliness, safety and quality of driving.

According to these survey findings, it appears to be typically Singaporean to cab to the airport. An overwhelming 95 per cent of the Singapore correspondents polled by Hotels.com would prefer to take a cab to the airport, whichever country they may be in.

Some Singaporeans were not keen on making small talk with the taxi drivers. One in five Singaporeans surveyed considered talkative drivers as one of their biggest pet peeves. 47 percent of Singaporeans surveyed would also rather round up the cab fare instead of tipping the driver.

Other common commuter complaints include smoking at the wheel — 26 per cent of Singapore correspondents voted against this. The most frequent gripe? Drivers with strong body odour; 55 per cent of voters worldwide listed this as their top pet peeve.

These survey findings were shared by Hotels.com. Visit Hotels.com for more travel information on these cities.

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