Suwon City Changes 'Taxi Restriction' to Alleviate Late-Night Ride Shortages

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province will change the restricted operation hours (night shift change time) of corporate and individual mid-sized taxis from midnight to 5 a.m. starting next month on the 1st to alleviate taxi boarding difficulties during late-night hours.

The change in restricted operation hours applies to corporate and individual mid-sized taxis in Suwon City. Model taxis, large taxis, taxis exclusively for the transportation vulnerable, electric vehicles, and hydrogen electric vehicles are excluded from the restriction.

Suwon City announced on the 31st that it decided to change the restricted operation hours because, although social distancing measures due to COVID-19 have been lifted and taxi demand during late-night hours has increased, the number of taxi drivers has decreased compared to before COVID-19, causing 'taxi boarding difficulties' late at night.

The city expects that changing the shift change time to 5 a.m. will increase taxi operations around midnight when taxi demand is high, thereby alleviating boarding difficulties to some extent.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the turnover rate of corporate taxi drivers in Suwon City has increased, resulting in a decrease of 517 drivers and 296 operating vehicles compared to the end of 2019. Additionally, due to the aging of taxi drivers (65.2% aged 60 or older) and disturbances caused by intoxicated passengers, taxi operations during late-night hours have decreased.

The city had previously reached an agreement on changing the restricted operation hours between the Corporate Taxi Council and the Individual Taxi Association on the 11th.

A city official stated, "To enable citizens to use taxis more conveniently during late-night hours, we changed the restricted operation hours after consultations with taxi stakeholders," adding, "We will continuously monitor the effects of the change and prepare additional measures if necessary."

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