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July 20, 2009

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

New rules make cabbies focus more on customers and service

By Nie Xin | July 20, 2009, Monday | Print Edition

HANGZHOU taxi drivers are responding positively to a system which levies demerit points for arguing or fighting with customers, changing shifts during peak periods or driving an untidy cab, Nie Xin reports from the leading tourism city.

Taxi customers in Hangzhou, including local residents and visitors, have had good reason to be unhappy with the service, not merely because of untidy cars, but also driversí service standards and attitudes. However, over the past two months things have started to change.

This is the result of Hangzhou Transport Bureauís new regulations issued in May to critically assess the work of taxi drivers, and they already seem to have stimulated improvements.

And by the end of this year, all taxis in Hangzhou will be equipped with both video and voice recording monitors, as announced by the Transport Bureau at the end of last month.

The new government focus and subsequent changes amount to the city turning a new page in its taxi service standards.

Liu Jiang, 33, works in an electronics company in Shanghai but he takes frequent business trips to Hangzhou. Recently he found that the taxis in Hangzhou were much tidier than before.

ìAlthough the taxis are still not as tidy as Shanghai, they look much better than before,? says Liu. ìI am also looking forward to taking a taxi with monitoring aids inside. It could be a guarantee of good service.?

There are now 8,066 taxis in Hangzhou. According to the new regulations, each taxi starts off with a score of 1,200 points, and the final pass line is 840.

During the annual assessment process, all aspects of the taxiís service during the year will influence its score.

For example, if the carís dome light is broken or dirty, 3 points will be lost; 5 points will be lost if the car is not tidy; 5 points will be deducted if the bodywork paint is scratched.

At the same time, if the taxi driver demonstrates a poor attitude or quarrels with customers, 10 points will be deducted.

Fighting with customers or traffic administrators will cause the driver to lose 50 points; changing shifts in peak hours will get a 20 point penalty.

But not all the regulations are about losing points. If a taxi driver helps people or saves a life while on duty, he or she will win supplementary points from 2 to 10.

Joining in social civic activities will also help boost the final mark in the annual assessment.

ìAt first I was not happy with the new regulations which meant a lot of limitations,? says Ye Wei, a Hangzhou taxi driver with over 12 yearsí work experience.

ìBut on the other hand, they were good for improving the whole level of service in Hangzhou. And if we perform well, whatís waiting for us is a permanent contract to drive the car.?

ìThe new regulations on assessing taxi drivers are directly connected with the operation term taxi drivers could get,? says Chen Wei, director of Hangzhou Transport Bureau.

Usually, the operation term for a taxi driver is 10 years.

If the driver achieves 840-900 points in the annual assessment he or she can get another eight months, and the higher the longer. The driver with over 1,100 points can get one more yearís operation term.

ìIf the taxi driver provides a good service, the operation term can be indefinitely extended,? says Chen Jian, the director of Industry Management Department in Hangzhou Transport Bureau.

But the fee linked to the extended operation term hasnít been decided yet.

In order to fairly examine the taxi service standards, there are a series of measures on the way, including the monitoring aids, GPS, and training courses and tests for drivers. A new team ìTransport Administration 110? will also be organized to assess the taxi service.

ìWe estimate that all 8,066 taxis in Hangzhou can meet the examination pass line after one year,? says director Chen Wei.

ìIf not they might ultimately lose the license to drive the cab,? he says.

Since the regulations were issued on May 1, the tidiness of taxis has been improved, the first and fastest reaction to the regulation. Many taxis were also repaired.

ìWe hope that the taxi service in Hangzhou will have a new ?imageí after the series of actions,? Chen says.

Hangzhou


 

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