Will It Be Easier to Catch a Taxi Despite Year-End Crowds? ... Temporary Lift of Seoul Private Taxi 3-Day Rotation Starting Today

Full Lift of Subtitles After 45 Years... Expansion of Late-Night Surcharges from December
Expected Increase of About 5,000 Individual Taxis Supplied at Night

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jeong-wan] As the year-end approaches, the forced day-off system for individual taxis in Seoul will be lifted starting today. This is the first full lifting of the system in 45 years since its implementation, and attention is focused on whether this measure will alleviate the late-night taxi shortage.

According to Seoul City on the 10th, the city will temporarily lift the individual taxi day-off system, including the three-shift system (Ga, Na, Da) and the special 9-Ra shifts, from today until the end of the year. The individual taxi day-off system was introduced as a three-shift system to ensure safe transportation, vehicle maintenance, and prevent driver fatigue. With the removal of the previously maintained day-off system, taxis will instead be divided into groups numbered 0 to 9 and will be concentrated on night shifts from Monday to Friday according to their assigned numbers.

As a result, Seoul City expects that the supply of individual taxis operating late at night will increase by about 5,000 vehicles on two weekdays until the end of the year. Seo In-seok, head of the Taxi Policy Division, explained, "On Mondays, numbers 0 to 2 will operate; on Tuesdays, numbers 3 to 6; on Wednesdays, numbers 7 to 9; and on the busy days of Thursday and Friday, night operations will be conducted in odd-even shifts, allowing for an additional supply of about 5,000 vehicles."

Corporate taxis will also actively participate in resolving the 'boarding difficulty' by organizing the current two-shift system to focus on night shifts. They will also actively recruit new drivers through job fairs this month. Additionally, efforts to increase the length of service will be combined to secure 2,000 late-night taxis.

From next month, late-night taxi surcharges will also be expanded. Starting December 1, the late-night surcharge period will be moved forward from midnight to 10 PM, and the surcharge rate will be adjusted from the current 20% to up to 40% between 11 PM and 2 AM. From February 1 next year, the base fare will increase by 1,000 won from 3,800 won to 4,800 won. The base distance will be shortened by 400 meters to 1.6 km, among other fare adjustments. Once both the late-night surcharge and base fare adjustments are implemented, the average monthly pre-tax income of drivers operating during late-night hours is expected to increase by 800,000 won (30%) from the original 2.64 million won to 3.44 million won.

Starting December 1, the operation of 'Owl Buses' will also be increased to support late-night citizen mobility. A total of 37 buses will be added, including three routes: N32, N34, and N72. In areas such as Gangnam, Hongdae, and Jongno, vehicles will be concentrated to reduce the dispatch interval during peak congestion times from the existing 25-30 minutes to 10-15 minutes, improving onboard congestion.

From December 15 to 31, as a temporary measure for the year-end, the last bus departure times for 88 city bus routes and 2,364 buses passing through 11 major dense areas in Seoul, including Gangnam, Hongdae, and Yeongdeungpo, will be extended to 1 AM the next day based on departure from major stops. Baek Ho, head of Seoul City Urban Transportation Office, emphasized, "We will continue to work closely with the government, taxi industry, and platform companies to establish a virtuous cycle for improving the treatment of transportation workers, service enhancement, and expanding taxi supply," adding, "We will also expand public transportation capacity such as Owl Buses."

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