Seoul City to Hold Public Hearing on Taxi Fare Adjustment on the 5th of Next Month... Seeking Solutions to Late-Night Ride Shortages

Diagnosis of Taxi Status and Collection of Opinions... Exploring Taxi Supply Measures

Late-night Taxi Supply Status

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 23rd that it will hold a public hearing to find solutions to the late-night taxi shortage. Demand for taxis during late-night hours has surged since the end of COVID-19 and social distancing measures, but due to turnover in the taxi industry and the aging of taxi drivers leading to avoidance of night shifts, supply remains at about 20,000 taxis per day, which is approximately 5,000 fewer than before COVID-19.

Accordingly, with the year-end and New Year holidays approaching in December, Seoul expects a taxi boarding crisis to occur. At this public hearing, various opinions will be gathered to resolve the taxi shortage, including discussions on taxi fare adjustments, increasing utilization rates, and incentives for taxi drivers.

So far, Seoul has been gradually implementing public transportation capacity measures to support late-night citizen mobility and expand late-night taxi supply, such as △lifting restrictions on private taxis to increase late-night taxi supply △expanding late-night exclusive taxis △expanding owl bus routes △extending subway operating hours at night. However, despite these policies, the decrease in taxi drivers and the recent 37% increase in LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) prices, which raised fuel costs, have led to limits in expanding taxi supply, creating a need for additional incentives.

At this public hearing, Seoul plans to diagnose the current state of the taxi market and closely analyze the causes of the taxi shortage. In particular, it will listen to diverse opinions from experts and citizens, including on the rational adjustment of taxi fares. After thoroughly analyzing ways to increase utilization rates such as expanding taxi supply and recruiting drivers, Seoul intends to establish a direction for taxi fare adjustments that can achieve social consensus.

The public hearing will be held on the 5th of next month at the ‘Seoul Transportation Culture Education Center’ located in Gwanak-gu. The main topics include the analysis results of taxi operating costs and improvement plans for taxi fare adjustments to resolve the late-night taxi shortage. Various opinions are expected to be exchanged through discussions and presentations by experts from transportation agencies, academia, and related fields.

Baek Ho, Director of the Seoul Urban Transportation Office, said, “Seoul has mobilized all possible policies except for taxi fare adjustments, such as expanding public transportation and increasing late-night taxi availability.” He added, “From the citizens’ perspective, there is ongoing high inflation, and from the industry and general experts’ perspective, there are conflicting opinions such as fare adjustments. However, we will collect diverse opinions so that this public hearing can serve as an important opportunity to reach social consensus.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

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