Taxi Reforms: Are People Forum or Against Them?

On the same day that Beijing taxi-booking app users shuddered when Shenzhen banned them, the municipal government began public consultation on how best to address cab drivers' complaints about low wages.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform held a hearing Thursday that proposed a fare hike from RMB 10 to RMB 13, with charges after the first three kilometers rising from RMB 2 per kilometer to RMB 2.3 or RMB 2.6 per, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Shanghai taxi fares currently start from RMB 14 for the first three kilometers.

We'd probably be more sympathetic to the idea of a fare hike if it meant more than just, well, higher fares. If it somehow implied improved service, drivers who carry adequate change at all times of day, greater availability of taxis, and perhaps even the odd English speaker, it might just be worth it. Most likely, it will mean higher fares.

The hearing apparently did not address the continuing legality of taxi-booking apps like Didi Dache, or how telephone or electronic bookings of taxis will be handled or charged in the future. Also, no word on whether fare meters will be calibrated to reflect fare surcharge changes, or whether they will still rise and fall with fuel prices, but without official notification inside the vehicle.

Some weird statistics popped up in Xinhua's report, which noted: "Beijing is home to 252 taxi operators and 1,157 individual cab drivers that collectively run 66,646 vehicles, carrying about 700 million passengers annually and accounting for 6.6 percent of the city's transport." That doesn't make any sense. Each operator only has five or six drivers on average, but 264 cars? Only 1,157 cars are on the road at any one time? Maybe we'll wait for a correction on that one.

Based on Beijing's official population of 19.6 million, that means there's one licensed taxi for every 264 Beijingers. By comparison, New York City has over 13,000 taxis for 8.1 million people, about one for every 615 New Yorkers, but the city also licenses another 40,000 vehicles for public use. Regardless, with Beijing's expanding Metro system still available for only RMB 2, what the city needs is better management of taxis, not more of them.

Photo: BeijingBoyce.com.