Seoul Taxi 'Late-Night Surcharge' from 10 PM, Extension by 2 Hours... Flexible Operation of Surcharge Rate from 20% to 40%

Base Fare for Midsize Taxis to Increase from 3,800 Won to 4,800 Won... 1,000 Won Hike Proposed
Seoul City Prepares 'Fare Plan to Alleviate Late-Night Taxi Shortage,' Implements Phased Plan

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul taxi late-night surcharge hours are expected to be extended by 2 hours from 10 PM to 4 AM, and the base fare for mid-sized taxis is also expected to increase by 1,000 won to 4,800 won.

On the 1st, Seoul City prepared a fare plan to resolve the late-night taxi shortage and is promoting a phased plan to expand supply. At the citizen public hearing to be held at the Transportation Culture Education Center on the 5th, major issues such as △ introduction of a late-night flexible fare system △ adjustment of the base fare will be discussed.

Seoul City plans to implement the late-night flexible fare system from early December this year to increase taxi supply during late-night hours, anticipating that the late-night taxi shortage will worsen again ahead of the year-end and New Year holidays. Considering the recent high inflation situation, the adjustment of the base fare will be gradually promoted in February next year to minimize the burden on citizens.

First, the late-night surcharge hours will be extended by 2 hours from midnight?4 AM to 10 PM?4 AM, and the uniformly applied 20% surcharge rate will be flexibly operated between 20% and 40%. The improvement of the late-night surcharge system is the first case in the country to apply the basic economic principle that prices determine supply and demand to taxis, and Seoul City explains that this is an attempt to set the first button of taxi fare policy that responds to the platform era.

Seoul City stated, "Since the fare adjustment in 2019, the impact on taxi operating costs has greatly increased due to decreased business income caused by the spread of COVID-19, inflation, rising fuel costs, and minimum wage increases," adding, "According to the 2021 taxi operating cost analysis, it was found to be 19.3% per vehicle."

Additionally, to compensate as much as possible for the taxi operating costs insufficient compared to taxi business income and to alleviate short-distance ride refusals, which is an important goal of taxi policy, a plan to increase the base fare by 1,000 won has been prepared, and some distances have been adjusted for cost recovery. The taxi fare adjustment rate due to the introduction of the late-night flexible fare system and base fare adjustment is expected to be 19.3%, with the average fare per ride increasing from 10,698 won to 12,766 won.

Meanwhile, Seoul City plans to actively work to ensure that the taxi fare adjustment does not simply cause inconvenience to citizens by preparing measures to secure late-night taxi supply and expand the number of taxi drivers entering the industry through improved treatment of taxi workers in cooperation with the taxi industry.

Baek Ho, Director of the Seoul City Urban Transportation Office, said, “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, but we will collect various opinions so that this public hearing can be an important opportunity to reach social consensus.” He added, “We will do our best to provide services that fit the times in the future.”

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