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Rush-hour surcharge plan for taxis
By Dong Zhen |
January 13, 2009, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE late-night taxi surcharge may be moved to rush hours under proposals put forward by the city's top advisory body.
Tu Haiming, a member of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has proposed the change to the city government, saying it's for the sake of both passengers and cabbies.
He suggested the pricing bureau cancel or lower the surcharge on taxi rides between 11pm and 5am.
Instead, extra fees should be charged by cabs during rush hours, when taxis are always in great demand downtown and traffic is often seriously congested, Tu said.
He said many cabbies had told him late-night business was always slack and passengers often tried to get discounts.
The surcharge needed to be reduced to encourage late-night passengers and improve business for cabbies, Tu said.
However, one cabbie disagreed. Wu Chunpan, a 49-year-old Dazhong-fleet cabbie, was not in favor of Tu's proposal.
"I'm afraid once the extra fare is canceled for late-night business, almost no cabbies will be willing to stay on the streets during this period," Wu said.
"It's very tiresome for us to keep working during the early hours. We are motivated by the increased fare."
But Wu agreed that extending the surcharge could relieve the rush-hour taxi shortage downtown.
"We also suffer from the rush-hour taxi headache," he said.
"The meter slows down in congested traffic. It only charges 4 yuan (60 US cents) while the car crawls along in a queue, but under smooth traffic conditions in that time I can complete a 20-yuan fare."
The cabbie believed that fare rises in busy periods might help passengers with an urgent need for a taxi find one more easily, as the extra cost would drive others away.
However, Wu added: "I don't think it could relieve rush-hour road pressure in downtown areas."
Tu Haiming, a member of the Shanghai Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, has proposed the change to the city government, saying it's for the sake of both passengers and cabbies.
He suggested the pricing bureau cancel or lower the surcharge on taxi rides between 11pm and 5am.
Instead, extra fees should be charged by cabs during rush hours, when taxis are always in great demand downtown and traffic is often seriously congested, Tu said.
He said many cabbies had told him late-night business was always slack and passengers often tried to get discounts.
The surcharge needed to be reduced to encourage late-night passengers and improve business for cabbies, Tu said.
However, one cabbie disagreed. Wu Chunpan, a 49-year-old Dazhong-fleet cabbie, was not in favor of Tu's proposal.
"I'm afraid once the extra fare is canceled for late-night business, almost no cabbies will be willing to stay on the streets during this period," Wu said.
"It's very tiresome for us to keep working during the early hours. We are motivated by the increased fare."
But Wu agreed that extending the surcharge could relieve the rush-hour taxi shortage downtown.
"We also suffer from the rush-hour taxi headache," he said.
"The meter slows down in congested traffic. It only charges 4 yuan (60 US cents) while the car crawls along in a queue, but under smooth traffic conditions in that time I can complete a 20-yuan fare."
The cabbie believed that fare rises in busy periods might help passengers with an urgent need for a taxi find one more easily, as the extra cost would drive others away.
However, Wu added: "I don't think it could relieve rush-hour road pressure in downtown areas."
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