Daejeon Demand-Responsive 'Public Taxi' Pilot Operation This Month

Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City announced on the 4th that it will pilot a demand-responsive "public taxi" service starting from the 12th of this month.

The public taxi is an alternative transportation service operating mainly in areas where bus use is inconvenient or where the distance to bus stops makes public transportation difficult to access.

The pilot operation targets 11 neighborhoods in 4 autonomous districts (186 people in 101 households) where the distance to bus stops is over 1 km and requires more than 20 minutes on foot, or where city bus service frequency is low.

During the pilot, public taxi use is limited to 8 rides per person per month. Residents in the target areas can make reservations by calling the existing call center, which is linked to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's demand-response system for dispatch and fare settlement.

Operating hours are from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. The user fare for the public taxi is 1,250 KRW, and the remaining cost beyond the user's payment will be subsidized by Daejeon City within the budget.

However, the public taxi routes are limited to travel between residences and major daily convenience areas or administrative welfare centers.

The pilot areas were selected based on research data on the introduction of public taxis published by the Daejeon Sejong Research Institute in September of last year.

Mayor Heo Tae-jeong of Daejeon said, "I hope the operation of public taxis will make the lives of transportation-vulnerable residents happier," and added, "We will continue to improve the system to make the public taxi service more convenient."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.