Lack of taxis at rush hour in large cities

Many taxi drivers charge higher fees or refuse passengers during rush hour in some tier one and tier two cities, Beijing Youth Daily reported on Wednesday.

Long waits for taxis at rush hour in busy areas and the rude service of some taxi drivers have led to complaints in Beijing, Tianjin city, Xi'an, capital of northwestern Shaanxi province, and Naning, capital of southern Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

"I estimate that at least 10,000 taxis in total evade taking passengers during rush hour," People's Daily cited a driver surnamed Jia, who has been driving a taxi for more than a decade, as saying on Tuesday. Following Jia, the People's Daily reporter witnessed about a thousand taxis parked on a road near Deshengmen in Beijing.

"To tackle the problem, we should carry out a flexible system to balance the supply and demand. The authorities should scientifically estimate the quantity of the taxis and make dynamic adjustments in accordance with the social demand," said Zhang Baoyi, director of the Institute of Sociology at Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences.