Sejong Increases Taxi Fleet and Base Fare... "Realizing Operating Conditions"

The photo is unrelated to the article. Source=Yonhap News Agency

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City is taking steps to improve the operating conditions of the local taxi industry by increasing the number of taxis and raising the base fare.

According to the city on the 25th, Sejong's population has grown from 100,000 at its inception in 2012 to 380,000 currently. However, during this period, the number of taxis increased only from 282 to 352, a mere 1.2% increase, causing inconvenience to citizens.

Accordingly, the city plans to issue 60 individual taxi licenses in the first half of this year and sequentially increase the number by 26 more next year, including 14 individual and 12 corporate taxis.

With an increase of 86 taxis by next year, a total of 438 taxis are expected to operate in the region. However, even after the increase, the population per taxi is still expected to be the highest nationwide, so the city plans to pursue additional increases through consultations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Along with the increase in taxis, the city will also raise taxi fares starting from the 1st of next month. This is the first fare adjustment in nine years since August 2013, with the base fare planned to be raised from 2,800 won to 3,300 won.

Out-of-city surcharges and late-night surcharges will also increase from 20% to 25%. However, the driving fare will remain the same at 100 won per 105 meters, the city explained.

The base fare increase was decided reflecting the continuous rise in transportation costs due to minimum wage hikes and inflation, as well as the deterioration of the taxi industry's business conditions caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and sharp decline in transportation revenue.

Earlier, to verify the validity of the fare increase, the city analyzed transportation revenue and expenses through a taxi fare and rate adjustment review project starting in July last year. The results confirmed that each taxi is operating at an average daily deficit of 20,000 won.

In response, the taxi industry proposed a fare increase of at least 1,000 won to improve transportation revenue, but it is reported that the city and the industry reached an agreement to minimize the burden on citizens.

Lee Sang-ok, head of the city's Transportation Policy Division, said, "Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the taxi industry's business conditions have worsened, making the fare increase inevitable. We will continue to strive to ensure that citizens using taxis can experience convenient and friendly service."

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