Taxi Prices Going Up

[Mulboyne]

[floatr][/floatr]ZakZak reports (Japanese) that some taxi operators have asked permission to increase the initial flat rate charge owing to cost pressures from higher oil prices and a shortage of drivers. It apparently requires 70% of companies in any given region to apply and that figure has been reached in a number of areas leading to a high probability that prices will rise from next February. Currently, many taxis start at around 660 yen and, in Tokyo wards, this could rise to 710 - 810 yen depending on the car. Yokohama and Kawasaki could go up as high as 860 yen. The article points out that the last increase was around 10 years ago when the consumption tax was raise from 3% to 5%. Not all operators have applied for an increase, however, and cheaper taxis may still be around. ZakZak notes, though, that some of the discount taxi operators who used to offer starting fares from 500-600 yen have already raised their prices closer to the legal maximum. The idea of a driver shortage may surprise anyone living in metropolitan areas where taxis are still relatively easy to hail but Tokyo operators claim that they only have sufficient personnel to keep 80% of their fleets on the road.

[IkemenTommy]

What? Those taxis run on LPG.. at least the non-private ones do. More reasons for me to take the kojins now.

[emperor]

A couple of years ago, the Govt de-regulated the taxi-plate system here, overnight devalueing a taxi license here from approx 80,000eur to 6,000.

A month ago they started regulating the fare-system:
http://www.taxiregulator.ie/index.jsp?1nID=93&nID=98&aID=99
and any and every trip got a tad more expensive.
I used to tip the odd time before (knowing full well they make a killing), but fuck me if im gonna do it now...

[FG Lurker]

Several years ago Osaka taxis were broadly deregulated and the number of taxis on the road shot way up.

Starting fares over 600yen (up to 660) can still be found, but there are a LOT of taxis around that start under 600, the lowest being "One Coin Taxi" which is 500yen for the first 2km.

It's also pretty normal here now that if a fair is more than 5000yen then the balance over 5000yen is 50% off. IE, if the meter says 10,000yen you pay 7500.

[Mulboyne]

And so it came to pass.

Yomiuri: Taxi fares to rise for 1st time in 10 years

The transport ministry has decided to approve hikes in taxi fares around the country, something taxi companies have been seeking for some time, it has been learned. Price increases of 50 yen to 70 yen for starting fares by companies in Nagano and Oita prefectures will be the first ones approved Friday. After adjusting taxi meters and other equipment, the companies will put the increase--about 10 percent of the basic fare--into effect a month after the approval. The taxi fare raise will be the first since April 1997, when the consumption tax rate was raised from 3 percent to 5 percent. To improve the wage level for drivers and to cope with soaring fuel costs, taxi companies in 49 of 90 jurisdictions around the nation, including the 23 wards, Musashino and Mitaka in Tokyo, had filed applications to raise fares since June 2006.

The Construction and Transport Ministry has started examining the applications in 41 areas and will approve them in due course, following the approvals granted to firms in the two prefectures. The ministry will select several companies in each area and decide the range of the price hike to be permitted in accordance with their cash-flow situations and local conditions. An increase of about 10 percent may be set as the standard.

[Captain Japan]

Ministers clash over Tokyo cab fares / Fuyushiba, Ota at loggerheads over rise; taxi drivers suffering after deregulation
Gomiuri

Construction and Transport Minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba and Hiroko Ota, state minister in charge of economic and fiscal policy, are at loggerheads over whether the government should allow taxi fares to rise in a Tokyo fare zone.

While Fuyushiba advocates the fare hike in the zone comprising 23 wards and two suburban cities, Musashino and Mitaka, Ota objects, saying the move would be criticized by consumers.

Many members of a government panel on price stability, chaired by Ota, also have cast doubts on the fare hikes, and the panel has decided to hold a rare meeting to reexamine the issue on May 31.

If the hikes are approved in the Tokyo zone, it will be the first rise since 1997, when the consumption tax rate was increased to 5 percent.

As many other regions also have applied for permission to raise taxi fares, the row between the two ministers is being closely watched.

A 45-year-old man who has worked as a Tokyo taxi driver for 12 years voiced anxiety about his future, saying: "My annual income has fallen to 4 million yen, though it was more than 5 million yen before. In Tokyo, where prices are high, managing my household finances has become harder and harder."...more...

[Mulboyne]

Note the proposed change to the late night premium in Tokyo:

Asahi: Tokyo taxi fares to rise in December

The maximum initial taxi fare in Tokyo is set to rise to 710 yen from the current 660 yen as early as December, sources said Friday. It would be the first hike in 10 years. The government is expected to approve the increase later this month. The overall jump is expected to range between 7 and 8 percent, taking into account incremental changes, the sources said. The ministry is now finalizing the plan with the Cabinet Office. The late-night premium would take effect from 10 p.m., one hour earlier than now, but the surcharge would be lowered from the present 30 percent to 20 percent.

[DrP]

Tokyo taxis are shit at any price. They stall the cars to lengthen the time on the road (pumping) (and thus the fares) , no two meters will even come close to the same on any given route, they stink of cigarette smoke and puke, the old f*s driving the cars barely know the way back home, let alone to your destination in spite of having the most modern GPS, Navi shit on the planet! And most certainly they will F* you as hard as they can knowing you are a gaijin and may not argue their meandering, "2hrs tour" course. Friggin idiots - I can't say enough about "pleasantly corrupt" this industry is in Japan.

[Mulboyne]

Yomiuri: Taxi fare hikes could backfire

With base-rate taxi fares going up in Tokyo and some nearby cities today, many have questioned whether the rise in fares will actually benefit drivers--people may think twice about using a taxi, and drivers may not get the boost in revenue, which had been the main argument for the hike. "I'd rather walk a short distance than pay for a taxi," said a 28-year-old woman waiting for a taxi at JR Tokyo Station prior to the fare hike. The starting fare for taxis is rising in Tokyo and in some cities in Kanagawa Prefecture for the first time in 10 years, from 660 yen to 710 yen for the first two kilometers. The Construction and Transport Ministry has said the increase is meant to boost drivers' wages. But with rising commodity prices, the extra cost of a taxi might discourage many customers from taking short taxi trips. A 32-year-old company employee on his way home after drinking in Ginza, Tokyo, also was thinking of alternatives. "It'll be cheaper to stay out all night drinking and take the first train in the morning," he said...more...

The article doesn't mention it but drivers are also worried that the smoking ban, which will be enforced around the same time, may also hit their business because there are people who take short taxi trips just to have a few minutes to smoke.

[Doctor Stop]

Just an anecdotal account here, but I noticed tonight that the line of empty taxis in front of my station has doubled in length since the fare increase.

Greenhouse gases are go.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: The ailing taxi industry

Under current economic conditions, raising prices to compensate for sluggish sales is the surest way to lose customers. But the taxi industry seems wedded to this wrong-headed strategy. In Tokyo, taxi fares were raised by 7.2 percent in December, driving away customers as expected. According to data compiled by Tokyo's taxi industry, the number of trips per vehicle fell during the month after the fare hike, resulting in a dip in revenue from a year earlier. Higher fares have not led to revenue growth. The taxi industry is among the "losers" in the transport sector. The total number of passengers on public transport in Japan grew by 14 percent from fiscal 1989 to fiscal 2005, but the number of taxi customers plunged by 33 percent during the same period. The customer drop-off is even steeper than the 31-percent slide in the number of bus passengers. The taxi industry's overall fare revenue peaked in fiscal 1991 at more than 2.7 trillion yen and then fell steadily to less than 1.9 trillion yen in fiscal 2006.

As part of taxi industry deregulation, restrictions on new entries into the business and the numbers of vehicles were eased in 2002. While the numbers of both cabs in operation and taxi service operators have increased, the market has shrunk, dragging down the pay among drivers. The average income of taxi drivers in fiscal 2006 was slightly below 3.3 million yen, 40 percent lower than the national average, despite the fact that cabbies worked nearly 200 hours longer than the average worker. The average age of taxi drivers was 55.3, more than 13 years higher than the national average. The fare hike in Tokyo was aimed at improving drivers' income, but it has only accelerated the flight of customers. The industry definitely needs to change its thinking. Efforts should focus on reforms designed to increase revenue by lowering fares and improving the quality of services in order to attract more passengers while securing their safety. That requires top executives of taxi companies to develop a new, customer-friendly business model tailored to the regional conditions.

In Fukuoka Prefecture, a new taxi service dubbed ZOC (Zone Controller Cab) is attracting attention. The service, approved last week by the Kyushu District Transport Bureau, dispatches taxis only in response to calls from customers whose name, telephone number and other information are registered with the taxi company. Cabbies involved in this service do not cruise for customers. The fare is based mainly on the time the trip takes instead of the distance. The initial charge is 800 yen, which covers the first 15 minutes of the ride for up to 5 kilometers of travel. After that, each 6 kilometers or 15 minutes of the ride costs an additional 800 yen. Fares under this charging system are lower than ordinary distance-based fares by up to nearly 50 percent.

The Onga Taxi company in the prefecture, which has been authorized to adopt this unique fare structure, rolled out a similar service in 2006, thinking it didn't have to gain permission. But the Kyushu District Transport Bureau told the company that the service was illegal unless approved by the authority. The company then filed for permission to run the new service. "When we launched the service in 2006, it created new demand," says Keisuke Kihara, president of the taxi company. "People who used to take taxis only to train stations began to use them to travel to their ultimate destinations," he explains. The company's revenue grew at a double-digit rate.

Taxi service operators in other parts of the nation, including Hokkaido, are adopting this approach. The central government should promote this system while taking steps to ensure that passenger safety will not be compromised. Many people want to use taxis more frequently, including patients going to hospitals and residents of areas where public transport services are not amply available. Taxi operators in other areas should take a leaf out of the Fukuoka company's book and try harder to devise new ways to discover and meet potential demand for taxi services.

[Mulboyne]

It seems the Ministry is thinking about another 5-6% rise in taxi fares this October.

[IkemenTommy]

Why? Because you have so many taxis idling at the Roppongi Intersect?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Do the Japanese not understand basic rules of supply and demand?


Let's see, the economy sucks so people aren't staying out late and taking taxis home, there are ridiculously long lines of cabs idling in front of the train stations, drivers' incomes are hurting, and the taxi companies are losing money. Oh, and I almost forgot, fuel costs are down. I know! Raise prices and everything will be OK. God, I'm a genious. Must be my Todai education.

[IkemenTommy]

Do the Japanese not understand basic rules of supply and demand?


Let's see, the economy sucks so people aren't staying out late and taking taxis home, there are ridiculously long lines of cabs idling in front of the train stations, drivers' incomes are hurting, and the taxi companies are losing money. Oh, and I almost forgot, fuel costs are down. I know! Raise prices and everything will be OK. God, I'm a genious. Must be my Todai education.

Exactly. That's why Japan hardly ever gets the Nobel Prize in economics.

[Greji]

Let's see, the economy sucks so people aren't staying out late and taking taxis home, there are ridiculously long lines of cabs idling in front of the train stations

And of those that do take late taxi's home, probably 90% of them are smokers, so instead of having "smoking cars" available, ban all smoking in all taxi's which makes for another great economical move.

[Mulboyne]

Thread detour now here

[Samurai_Jerk]

And of those that do take late taxi's home, probably 90% of them are smokers, so instead of having "smoking cars" available, ban all smoking in all taxi's which makes for another great economical move.

I doubt anyone skips a taxi ride because they can't smoke.

[Greji]

I doubt anyone skips a taxi ride because they can't smoke.

You'd be surprised at the smokers. I've had guys from my office on a couple of occasions walk over to the tube and from there to a venue site we use for large meetings, when everybody else went by taxi. This is just so they good grab a butt (maybe on the subway as well)....

[Samurai_Jerk]

You'd be surprised at the smokers. I've had guys from my office on a couple of occasions walk over to the tube and from there to a venue site we use for large meetings, when everybody else went by taxi. This is just so they good grab a butt (maybe on the subway as well)....

I was thinking more after the trains had stopped.