Zhong guo, director of economic and social construction, chinese academy of social sciences
On april 28th, china's new network (the automotive channel wang), along with recent policies on taxi industry governance, “trucking difficulties” are increasingly emerging as one of the public problems facing beijing and many cities across the country。
The low number of taxis, urban congestion, the reluctance of drivers to leave early and late, poor telephone calls, etc., are considered to be the cause of taxi crashes, and there are many arguments that the monopolistic operation of taxi companies is the cause of the crash. A series of regulations recently introduced in beijing, including the requirement for taxi drivers to take two calls per day, and the proposed increase in cab fares and operating prices, are considered to be official attitudes and determination to address the problem of “trucking difficulties”. In response, zhong jun, director of the economic and social construction research unit of the chinese academy of social sciences, said in a video interview on april 27, that the combined factors of the traffic crash were many, but fundamentally the result of the failure of government administration. He considered that it would be too expensive to raise the telephone call fee to $8, and that the problem of parking at higher prices was typical of a one-size-fits-all, lazy mind。
There's not enough taxis
Referring to the reasons for the car crash, zhong zhong stated that his research into the car crash had revealed that it was mainly caused by three inadequate supplies. First, the absolute supply of taxis is inadequate. Although the ministry of housing and construction has established 20 taxis per 10,000 inhabitants, the number of taxis in beijing, shanghai and guangzhou is much higher, of which 33 are in beijing, but is still insufficient for beijing。
Second, there is a relative lack of supply. The current vacancy rate for taxis in beijing is 40 per cent, and those who want to take taxis do not know where they are and taxi drivers do not know where they are。
Third, and most important, is the lack of provision of benefits. Taxi drivers are unable to earn money and are less motivated to travel, leading to difficulties in driving。
With regard to the reasons why taxi drivers do not earn money, jong-jun argues, first, that the taxi company is currently charging a higher share of the money, that drivers have to pay their own wages on the one hand, and that, on the other hand, income pressures are high; and, secondly, that the traffic in beijing is so crowded that the immediate consequence of the congestion is a significant increase in the taxi driver's time costs to travel, so that the driver chooses not to leave during peak periods and the population is naturally unable to do so. In addition, bad weather, such as heavy rain and snow, increases the risk cost of taxi drivers travelling. Also, the fact that very few companies currently offer full insurance to taxis and that in the event of a three-case accident, drivers are required to pay their own compensation is one of the reasons why drivers are reluctant to leave。
The taxi company should disclose the cost of running the car
The collection of large sums of money, monopolistic operations and withholding of insurance costs has left taxi companies that are licensed operators open to considerable controversy. On the other hand, the refusal of taxis, the setting of prices on the ground and so forth are common phenomena, and the industry management functions that taxi companies should perform are not being performed. This has led to calls from the outside world to break down taxi company concessions and liberalize the taxi market. In response, zhong was of the view that the way taxi companies were licensed was necessary, but that the cost of operating should be disclosed。
Zhong jun stated that, in the light of current experience in the management of taxis around the world, taxi licensing was a public management principle that was being adhered to by all, and that no national taxi had been completely released. Because taxis are not public services, but public utilities, which concern the whole of society, require uniform licensing and management。
Zhong jun said that taxi companies did, on the one hand, help the government manage taxi drivers and regularize their operations. But on the other hand, it is profitable and profitable, and it is necessary to keep increasing its profit space, and the way to increase the profit space is naturally to increase its share of the money, which raises a variety of problems。
Zhong was of the view that the money was not simply high or low, and that there should be a management cost behind it as a frame of reference, and that the company's money was mainly for what, such as labour costs, vehicle purchase and maintenance costs, management fees, etc. If it is right to add a factor of 8 per cent or 10 per cent at such a cost, it is to be judged in the light of the actual operations of the company and addressed through collective consultations in an open and transparent manner, and if this is resolved, the interests of all parties may be fairly balanced and safeguarded。
Zhong jun stated that full liberalization of taxi operations would not necessarily be a fundamental solution to the problem, or would it be necessary to make full use of the advantages of market resources and mechanisms, while strengthening regulation. The preferred way to manage the taxi industry should be to form a non-governmental, non-profit, public organization in which drivers pay an appropriate portion of the management fee, vehicle operating fee or other fee for industry self-regulation and management, which may be conducive to preserving the interests of taxi drivers, reducing unnecessary costs and making the taxi industry more operational。
Eight dollars's too expensive
Recently, beijing introduced the pilot scheme for the management of taxi recall services in beijing city, which requires taxi drivers to maintain two telephone calls per day starting on 1 june. In his view, this provision is certainly effective, but of little significance. Now that there is a lag in writing on the caller, the government should take the lead in developing a more complete car-call software system。
Zhong zhong believed that it would take four hours for a telephone call to take place, and that it would be random in many cases, so that the new provision would certainly be effective but of little significance. In addition, the four hours were inefficient, plus the $5 call cost, which he considered to be somewhat high. Because many cities call cars for free and call cars as part of their service, $5 or $8 is expensive。
With regard to the mobile phone-calling software, which is now popular, zhong jun indicated that it is not yet practical due to several constraints. Many young people are highly skilled in using smartphones, but taxi drivers use very little. In addition, when driving, drivers can see their mobile phones with some insecurity. Zhong was of the view that the government's traffic authority and taxi management should take the lead in developing a more complete car-calling software positioning system. On the one hand, the consumer and on the other hand, the taxi was loaded like a car navigation, and both sides could easily find each other. It is now an information society with well-developed positioning techniques, and it is somewhat backward to write on telegraphics。
It's hard to get a cab, it's a government failure
Zhong was of the view that this was primarily the responsibility of the higher authorities. He indicated that, in public administration theory, the difficulty of driving reflected two failures. The first is market failure. This followed a series of disruptions, such as detours, denials, etc., when taxis were fully placed in the market. What about this time? The government took it back and let the taxi company operate, which led to problems such as monopolization, and did not allow taxis to create a social climate on call, and the problem of taxi crashes remained unresolved, as well as a conflict between taxi companies and drivers over the low-cost money, which was a manifestation of the failure of government management。
Zhong guang believed that the authorities should play a fair and impartial role and act as a mediator in cases of tension and conflict between taxi drivers and taxi companies in order to ensure the legitimacy of fee-making. After all, taxis are public services, and it is necessary for the government sector to do its part to maximize their efficiency by purchasing public services, such as the development of information system positioning systems that involve the whole spectrum, rather than micro-involved in specific price setting, which should be left to the market。
With regard to the recent taxi pricing hearing in beijing and the upward adjustment of taxi call prices and operating prices to boost drivers’ motivation to leave during peak periods, chung believes that the difficulty of driving is a matter of public management, and that if it is to be settled through a price adjustment, it is typical of lazy thinking, which is a simple one-size-fits-all approach. In his view, taxi pricing was not a matter of how high it was, but rather of thinking about public management that required specific analysis. It was understandable that prices would have been raised at peaks, but if not at peaks, a one-size-fits-all adjustment would have been questionable。
Zhong jun expressed his support for the price adjustment, but the ways and means of the adjustment and the level of scientific decision-making should be thoroughly discussed in order to prevent two false tendencies. The first is to raise prices at a single hearing, which is a question, and the second is to hear more than just how much price increases have been raised, but under what circumstances, if not, or whether there is a scientific decision-making and a comprehensive consideration。
