Busan Taxi Base Fare Increases by 500 Won... Driving Fare Unchanged, Premium and Large Sedans Up by 1000 Won

Implementation of Meter Adjustment from 4 AM on December 15

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The base fare for taxis in Busan will increase by 500 won starting from the 15th of next month.

The base fare for mid-sized taxis will rise to 3,800 won, marking a 500 won increase after four years.

For deluxe taxis introduced for premium service and large passenger cars with fewer than 10 seats, the base fare for the first 3 km, currently 5,000 won, will be raised by 1,000 won to 6,000 won.

High-end taxis operating under a voluntary reporting fare system and large vans with 11 or more seats are excluded from this fare adjustment.

Busan City explained the reason for the fare adjustment, stating that since the last taxi fare revision in September 2017, when the base fare was raised from 2,800 won to 3,300 won, the cost of taxi operation, including labor and fuel expenses, has continuously increased over the past four years.

They added that only the base fare was adjusted to the level of the metropolitan area to minimize the burden on citizens due to rising living costs.

Busan City and the taxi industry decided to keep the driving fare unchanged, considering the prolonged recession caused by COVID-19.

The increased taxi base fare will be applied from 4 a.m. on December 15, and it is expected to take about a month to adjust the meters.

The average ride distance for mid-sized taxis in Busan is 5.4 km, and with the new base fare applied, the average fare per ride is analyzed to increase by 7.09%, from 7,052 won to 7,552 won.

Park Jin-ok, Director of the Busan City Transportation Bureau, stated, “The LPG gas price per liter, which accounts for a large portion of taxi operating costs, has risen by more than 20% compared to September 2017,” and added, “The number of taxi industry workers decreased by 32% over three years, from 11,455 at the end of January 2018 to 7,727 at the end of October 2021.”

He also explained the worsening business conditions of the taxi industry, saying, “The number of corporate taxis out of service increased by 292%, from 540 at the end of January 2018 to 2,121 at the end of October 2021.”

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