The current situation of taxis in 31 provincial capital cities： the number of 10,000 people in 21 cities is not up to standard

　　(This article was published in the 31st issue of China Economic Weekly in 2016.)

　　Jia Guoqiang, China Economic Weekly reporter | Beijing report

　　"I finally don’t have to worry about it every day anymore, especially when I go to the train station and the airport." Master Zhang, an Internet car driver who has been in Beijing for more than a year, honked his horn excitedly when he heard the Ministry of Transportation announce that online ride-hailing was legal. He told China Economic Weekly that the policy was not clear before, and he always worried about being fined. Now it is finally "justifiable".

　　This is due to the official announcement of the reform policy of the taxi industry that has attracted much attention from the society. On July 28, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to deepen the reform of the taxi industry and announced that, with the consent of the State Council, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Reform and Promoting the Healthy Development of the Taxi Industry" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guiding Opinions"). The Ministry of Transport and other seven departments of the State Council jointly promulgated the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Online Booking Taxi Business Services" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures"). The "Administrative Measures" will be officially implemented on November 1, 2016.

　　"These two documents are a step forward, recognizing the legality of private cars and including them in the management of the taxi system, which will help promote the reform of the taxi industry and build a healthy and orderly transportation system." Cao Zhiwei, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Guangzhou, who has been calling for the reform of the taxi management system, said in an interview with China Economic Weekly: "However, this step is not enough, and the pace of reform should be greater. The interests of taxi companies are secondary and should be gradually transformed into service-oriented enterprises; the focus is on the interests of drivers and passengers."

　　Among passengers, drivers, taxi companies, online taxi-hailing platforms and transportation authorities, passengers and drivers are often disadvantaged groups. Can this time solve the problems of "travel difficulties" and "taxi difficulties" for urban residents over the years? Can the "portion money" management model that traditional taxi drivers generally complain about continue? The reporter of China Economic Weekly combed the current situation of taxis in 31 provincial capital cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, etc., including the number of taxis, the permanent population, the number of 10,000 people, the portion money, and the paid usage fee for operating rights, hoping to find some reasons and answers.

　　Owned by 10,000 people:

　　Only 10 cities, including Urumqi, Beijing, and Shanghai, met the standards, while Shijiazhuang had the lowest and had not added a car in 17 years

　　At the press conference, Vice Minister of Transport Liu Xiaoming said that the contradiction between the taxi industry’s services and the people’s growing personalized travel needs has become increasingly prominent, and various problems have reached an urgent need to be solved. Some cities have the problem of difficult taxi hailing to varying degrees, the service quality of the industry is not high, and the diversified and multi-level service needs of ordinary people cannot be effectively met. Especially in some cities, the scale of taxis has not increased for more than 10 years, and the personalized travel of ordinary people has not been satisfied.

　　In 1995, the "Urban Road Traffic Planning and Design Code" issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development had a guiding standard for the number of urban taxis – large cities should not be less than 2 per 1,000 people; small cities should not be less than 0.5 per 1,000 people; medium-sized cities can take the value. According to this conversion, the number of 10,000 people in large cities should not be less than 20; the number of 10,000 people in small cities should not be less than 5.

　　According to the reporter’s combed statistics of the 31 provincial capital cities, only 10 cities such as Urumqi, Lhasa, and Beijing meet the guidelines, accounting for 32.26%. Nanning, Fuzhou, and Shijiazhuang three provincial capital cities have less than 10 million people, 9.62, 8.59, and 6.27 respectively.

　　This may be able to find answers to the "travel difficulties" and "taxi difficulties" in some cities. According to a media survey, the utilization rate of a taxi is equivalent to 8 private cars and official cars. If the number of tax***** is increased, it will effectively reduce the travel of private cars and official cars and reduce traffic congestion. Increasing the number of taxis to cope with the difficulty of taxi hailing has become a common choice of many cities in China in recent years. Xi’an City put 1,053 taxis at one time in 2011, Hefei City announced an increase of 1,000 new energy taxis in 2013, and Nanjing City also added 3,300 before and after the Youth Olympic Games.

　　However, the number of taxis increased in many cities does not match the demand. For example, Hebei media reported in January 2013 that Shijiazhuang had not added a taxi for 14 years since 1998. The local transportation management office did not respond positively, saying that "Shijiazhuang is the same as the whole country". More than three years later, this situation still does not seem to have changed. A reporter from China Economic Weekly called the rental department of Shijiazhuang’s transportation management office, but did not get an exact number of responses. According to an article published on the official website of the Shijiazhuang municipal government dated May 11, 2015, "the propaganda work of Shijiazhuang Chuangsen is in full swing", there are still only 6,710 taxis in the local area. If you count from 1998 to 2015, there will be at least 17 years without adding a taxi.

　　In some cities, the number of taxis is decreasing. Take Shanghai as an example. As of 2013, there were 50,600 taxis in operation in the city. However, according to the Shanghai Municipal Statistical Bulletin in 2015, by the end of the year, the city operated 48,900 taxis. 1,700 fewer than before. A person from the Shanghai Taxi Industry Association once told the media that compared with more than 10 years ago, the monthly income of taxi drivers has long lost its attractiveness. Coupled with the hard work, young people in Shanghai are reluctant to drive taxis.

　　Why has the number of taxis not increased in some cities for more than 10 years? "Cao Zhiwei, a member of the committee, analyzed to the reporter of China Economic Weekly:" The traffic management department often takes care of the interests of taxi companies, and controls the number of taxis in order to reduce the empty rate of taxis. And the traffic management department often simply allocates the number of taxis based on the static population size of the city, without fully considering the urban population structure, economic and consumption level, floating population composition and other factors, so the number of taxis often cannot meet the travel needs of citizens. "

　　Molecular money: Chongqing over 10,000, some cities reduced

　　Expert advice: Replace portion money with tax payments

　　"Every day when I open my eyes, I owe a few hundred yuan," is the portrayal of the majority of taxi drivers. In addition to maintenance and fuel consumption costs, drivers also have to bear thousands or even tens of thousands of "part money" every month. Part money is the monthly operating management fees, taxes and other expenses paid by taxi drivers to taxi management companies, also known as contract fees. It is considered to be the main burden of taxi drivers and the main revenue of taxi companies.

　　"It was rumored that the money would be reduced before, but there has been no movement recently, so I don’t have much hope for this." Master Liang, who has been driving a taxi in Beijing for more than ten years, told reporters. "Since the emergence of the special car, the most active day is due to the recent heavy rain, which has pulled more than 1,200 yuan. It has not been so much for a long time." Master Liang said that now there are many empty runs, and it is already a chance to pull five or six hundred yuan a day. If you take away the money and fuel money, you will be satisfied with 200 yuan.

　　According to public information compiled by the reporter, among the 31 provincial capitals, Chongqing has the highest taxi element money, 11,044 yuan per month. This data comes from the public mailbox of the Chongqing Municipal Transportation Commission. A brother complained that in August 2009, he paid 380 yuan per day according to the company’s regulations. However, by 2015, the share money had risen to 415 yuan per day. After verification, the Chongqing Municipal Transportation Commission replied that "the actual output value task payment standard of the taxi business plan formulated by the company in 2015 is: the output value of each car is 14,250 yuan/month (475 yuan/day), the return of basic wages, miscellaneous fees, etc. A total of 3,206 yuan/month, the actual output value is about 11,044 yuan/month (368.13 yuan/day), which is lower than the highest standard stipulated by the industry 11,400 yuan/month (380 yuan/day). According to the reply, even according to the verification of the Chongqing Municipal Transportation Commission about 11,044 yuan/month, the taxi industry in Chongqing is still the highest.

　　The city with the lowest molecular money is Yinchuan, with 3,000 yuan per month. Due to the different collection standards in various places, molecular money accounts for about 30% to 60% of the monthly income of taxi drivers. Where did the molecular money go? According to media surveys, molecular money is used by taxi companies to bear the cost of 40 projects, disguised to help enterprises share various operational risks and management costs, and some are also used by "Tengzhuan" to support enterprises and pay outrageous office fees, hospitality fees, etc. Under the monopoly policy of franchise access, operating a taxi company has become a low-risk, worry-free and sure-fire business.

　　Under the model of molecular money, with the continuous impact of special cars, the income of taxi drivers is decreasing, which has triggered conflicts between these two old and new formats in some cities. Some cities have chosen to directly reduce molecular money. On March 31, 2015, the Nanjing Municipal Price Bureau and the Transportation Bureau jointly issued a notice that from April 1, Nanjing will reduce taxi "molecular money". Ordinary models will be reduced by 600 yuan per month for a single shift and 200 yuan per month for a double shift, with a reduction of 8.96% and 2.86% respectively. In October 2015, Lanzhou reduced the monthly rent for drivers from 3,950 yuan to 3,650 yuan.

　　Some cities have also begun to cancel the paid use fee for taxi operating rights. It is a fee that enterprises hand over to local finance and will be transferred to "molecular money". According to incomplete statistics, since 2007, seven provincial capitals including Jinan, Wuhan, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Kunming, Nanchang and Changsha have cancelled the paid use fee for taxi operating rights. In April this year, Liu Mingli, director of the Changsha Municipal Transportation Bureau, said that starting from May 1, Changsha will officially cancel the use fee for taxi concession rights. For taxi individuals, the monthly burden will be reduced by 520 yuan per car.

　　Comparing the taxi "part money" model with the special car "sharing according to the order" model, in the opinion of the special car driver, Master Zhang, the special car model is obviously superior. After an order, the platform company deducts about 27% of the fee. If the revenue is 10,000 yuan in January, the deduction is only 3,000 yuan; in addition, if you don’t work for a day, you are not afraid of deducting money. And Master Liang said that you must complete the part money every day, even if you are sick, you will not dare to stop to rest. If you can’t finish it, it is basically a waste of time.

　　In this regard, Commissioner Cao Zhiwei suggested: "In the new policy, it is proposed to encourage, support and guide taxi companies, industry associations, taxi drivers, and trade unions to negotiate and determine taxi contract fee standards and quota tasks, which shows that the reform is not thorough enough. The original unreasonable distribution of benefits should be changed, and the taxi driver’s’share money ‘should be replaced by tax payment, that is, the platform withholds and pays the driver’s personal taxes and fees (according to operating income × tax rate) in accordance with regulations, and encourages drivers to work more and get more. This is also the key to whether the reform can be successful."

　　According to reports, the reform plan in Guangzhou may be introduced, and taxi management will use the "share per order" method to replace the fixed "part money". The fare of passengers will also be related to factors such as the number of passengers carried by the driver, the efficiency of the order, the operating mileage, the operating time and the type of vehicle. Drivers "work more and get more".

　　How to consider administrative authority:

　　The central government has a clear direction, and the localities bear the main responsibility

　　When asked how the central and local management authority is considered, Vice Minister of Transportation Liu Xiaoming emphasized the responsibility of territorial management, "This reform fully respects the rights of local urban people’s governments, and at the same time hopes that the whole country can be more clear on some important issues related to the direction of reform", "Taxi management is the main responsibility of the city people’s government, the size of each city, the level of public transportation development, congestion and so on vary widely, in this case, how to locate the city’s taxis, how to consider the city’s taxi development scale, etc., need to be determined by each city government", "two documents for each city people’s government to leave enough policy space, local can also be adapted to local conditions, city-specific policies".

　　Song Qinghui, a financial commentator, told China Economic Weekly about the two documents: "Online car-hailing has been officially legalized, passengers have become safer and their legal rights have been further guaranteed; the operating platform has reduced their costs and related expenses because of the rules to follow; the transformation of traditional taxi companies to provide online car-hailing services will be more convenient, and the competition will be more open and transparent."

　　There are also some cautiously optimistic voices. Ding Daoqin, a member of the Internet Rule of Law Working Committee of the Internet Association of China, told China Economic Weekly: "The new regulations on special cars stipulate relevant management requirements from many positive angles, but what is particularly worthy of the industry’s attention is that many provisions have left legislative openings, which have increased the uncertainty of the new regulations on special cars, and are also the key to considering the future effectiveness of the new regulations on special cars. For example, the government-guided price of online car-hailing freight rates is opened, and the specific implementation rules in various places are opened."

　　"Looking at the whole regulation, behind encouraging innovation, there is actually another implied main line of the new regulations on special cars: maintaining stability and prohibiting the impact on the taxi market. After the introduction of the new regulations on special cars, the game between innovative forces and traditional forces will continue. I agree with the direction of progress of the new regulations on special cars, and hope that the relevant details can be implemented in the future, so that the implementation level will not be out of shape." Ding Daoqin said.

　　"Although our country has moved from a planned economy to a market economy for almost 40 years, there are still some habits and practices in the field of supervision that have not kept up with the times. Our government and regulatory entities at all levels must gradually get used to and adapt to the transformation of functions from’management ‘to’governance’, which requires the reform of our country’s urban governance system and mechanism." Zhang Guohua, director of the Urban Center Comprehensive Transportation Planning Institute of the National Development and Reform Commission, analyzed to China Economic Weekly reporters. "We need to reform our governance system so that all relevant stakeholders: the government, enterprises, think tanks, and individuals are involved, and there are channels and methods to express their interests. The governance of all aspects of the city is no longer a word, and one party can do it’willfully ‘, but requires all stakeholders to participate in it and coordinate the interests of all parties in order to achieve the best governance effect. "