Taxi companies ignore half-hearted deregulation

[Captain Japan]

Japan's taxi drivers feel squeeze
USA Today

TOKYO — You arrive at Narita International Airport after a long flight across the Pacific, exhausted and eager to get to your hotel in downtown Tokyo 40 miles away. The taxis waiting outside look inviting.
They gleam. Their interiors are spotless. Their seats are decorated with doilies and sheathed in plastic. The drivers wear immaculate uniforms and sometimes little caps. Their manners are impeccable. You're tempted to skip the bus or the train and take one of those taxis into town.

But unless you're a pampered CEO traveling on a bloated expense account, do not succumb to temptation: A one-way taxi ride from Narita to Hilton Tokyo in the city's Shinjuku district will set you back more than $200.

Three years ago, Japan deregulated its taxi industry, promising consumer-friendly competition. The results so far have been dismal for passengers. Japanese taxis remain the world's most expensive. But taxi drivers aren't reaping any benefits, either; they get poorer each year.

"Deregulation worked in the telephone industry and the railroad industry, but it doesn't work in the taxi industry," says Seiji Abe, a professor at Osaka's Kansai University who has studied taxi deregulation, Japanese-style....the rest...

[dimwit]

Personally, I take taxis all the time, provided that I don't have to pay for them. :P

[Mulboyne]

Abe suggests tinkering instead. For example, he says, the government should find ways to ease traffic congestion in Japanese cities, perhaps by designating taxi-only lanes, to shorten trips and lower fares. Perhaps drivers should be allowed to tack on surcharges if they help with a passenger's luggage, he says.

Those are all current London taxi policies. There was an uproar when fares were raised a few years ago because short trips became prohibitively expensive. The introduction of London's congestion charge was controversial but it cleared the roads and journey times came down. During peak hours, some major roads have designated bus lanes which taxis can also use.

The Narita example is always slightly unfair since the main reasons people take taxis at airports is that they are laden with baggage, which makes taking the train inconvenient, or else they don't know where they are going and rely on the taxi driver to get them there. Since many travellers in Japan pay to get their luggage delivered separately, the train becomes a much easier option. For finding your way into Tokyo, the Limousine Bus Service is showing its age a little but it is still very efficient.

One service some FG friends often use is the shared-taxi service to and from the airport. I believe it is around 3,000 yen which works out cheaper than the bus or Narita Express when you add on the connecting journeys. The taxi picks you up at your home at a designated time or meets your flight and delivers you home. You might be first to be picked up/dropped off or last but there are usually no more than two other passengers, even in the vans. Sometimes you might be the only passenger.

[GomiGirl]

Shared taxi service to Narita rocks!!!!

There should be more people sharing cabs - this is very common in Australia - especially in early morning taxi ranks outside clubs etc.

It is cheaper and often safer as the cab drivers are the pervs rather than the other passengers.

But the general shyness of most Japanese would probably prohibit this..

[Marvin Feltcher]

Sorry!