'Reappearance of the "Taxi Crisis"... Kakao Taxi Call Volume Surges 333% Compared to Two Years Ago'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] With the lifting of social distancing measures, the number of KakaoT taxi calls has surged. On the other hand, the number of corporate drivers during late-night peak hours has decreased. There are growing calls for government-level "carrot measures" to resolve the supply crisis and promote voluntary driving by taxi drivers.

According to Kakao Mobility's released data on 'Kakao T Taxi' calls on the 28th, the nationwide average daily taxi calls during the last two weeks of social distancing from the 4th to the 17th reached 3.23 million, a 139% increase compared to the same period last year when the metropolitan area was under level 2 social distancing for a prolonged period. Compared to the same period in 2020, right after social distancing was implemented, it increased by 333%.

Compared to right after the implementation of With-Corona, it increased by 12%, and compared to the last two weeks before the final social distancing, it rose by 33%.

The surge in taxi calls was particularly noticeable in Seoul. The average daily Kakao T taxi call increase rate in Seoul rose by 216% compared to the same period last year and by 441% compared to the same period in 2020.

During the three weeks including April 18 to 24, when social distancing was fully lifted, the nationwide taxi call volume increased by 12% compared to the three weeks immediately after the With-Corona implementation. It also rose by 37% compared to the last three weeks before the final social distancing.

In particular, taxi demand during late-night peak hours increased intensively. From April 4 to 24, nationwide taxi calls between 10 PM and 2 AM surged by 34% compared to November last year, right after the With-Corona implementation. During the same period and time frame, taxi calls in Seoul also increased by more than 28%.

Summarizing these figures, the current situation is experiencing a more severe taxi crisis than during the With-Corona period.

Kakao Mobility analyzed, "From April 4, two weeks before the full lifting of social distancing, when the distancing level was adjusted, a social psychology that the country had effectively entered an endemic phase influenced users, causing explosive growth in mobility demand."

This situation stems from an absolute shortage of taxi workers. Comparing the recent three weeks (April 4?24) with the same period immediately after the pandemic in 2020, the number of corporate drivers during late-night peak hours nationwide decreased by 12.1%.

The preference of individual taxi drivers for daytime work has intensified; the number of individual taxi drivers during late-night peak hours nationwide decreased by 5.9%, while during morning peak hours, it increased by 4.4%.

Currently, platform companies are employing various measures to resolve the taxi crisis, but even with full utilization of application functions, it is insufficient to solve the problem.

Industry insiders explain that considering the physical exhaustion from working late hours, the expectation of income from late-night taxi driving is not high relative to the labor intensity. This is also why many taxi workers quit their jobs or move to other industries such as parcel delivery and courier services.

There is growing demand inside and outside the industry to provide economic incentives to encourage voluntary driving by taxi drivers. Active consideration is needed for applying flexible fare surcharges or allowing additional income generation such as small cargo delivery.

An industry official said, "Including flexible fare systems, society, government, and the industry must all discuss 'carrot measures' to encourage taxi drivers to operate and resolve the taxi supply crisis."

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