Now book an undisturbed ride on city’s taxis
Print Edition
IN a major relief to taxi users, drivers will now be blocked from taking new bookings through apps when they have passengers in their vehicle.
Starting next month, a unified databased system will automatically switch the taxi roof lights from “for hire” to “booked” once an order has been taken. The city’s top four taxi companies are part of the program while smaller companies will be inducted in the future.
The database has been built by Shanghai Transport Commission and includes all information about taxi drivers and the vehicles. It will be linked to the dispatch centers of the four taxi companies — Qiangsheng, Dazhong, Jinjiang and Haibo — as well as Beijing Xiaoju Technology Company, the operator of Didi and Kuaidi taxi app. Passengers booking through third party apps will have to go through the same database.
The new system is expected to crack down on illegal taxis and private cars.
Didi and Kuaidi will include their registered drivers in the database which can help keep the unlicensed drivers away.
App users will be required to update their software at the end of this month for the upgraded version.
Third party apps did a great job in making it easy for taxis to connect with passengers, but it was also unpopular as the taxis began to ignore street hailers.
For taxi users, it was also a nuisance as the drivers’ cellphones keep ringing incessantly for new orders. The transport authority has repeatedly said that cellphone use is a safety hazard.
“The app operators and the taxi companies could not come to an agreement. Therefore, the Shanghai transport commission had to step in and find a technical way out,” said Sun Jianping, chief of the Shanghai Transport Commission.
Sun said smaller taxi companies, which has about 8,000 taxis on the roads, will be included into the new system gradually. Passengers can file complaints to taxi companies or dial city hotline 12345 or 12319 if they find a driver using the apps during a journey.
“The new system is a joint action by the city government, the taxi companies and the app operators,” said Cheng Wei, CEO of Beijing Xiaoju Technology Company. “With the help of database, we can now identify unlicensed drivers from our users. I hope the system is promoted in other cities too in the future.”
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