Residents have no faith in taxi pricing hearing

Nearly half of Beijing residents lack confidence in the taxi pricing public hearing, which decides how much the taxi fares in Beijing will rise.

Of the 220 respondents to a survey, 43.6 percent of them believe the public hearing hardly listens to public advice while only 18.1 percent have any faith in the hearing. The figures came from a poll released by Beijing research company Horizon Research and Horizonkey.

The survey polled a total of 220 people aged 16 to 70 in the Chinese capital through telephone interviews on April 15 and 16.

A taxi driver will soon be able to charge 15 yuan ($2.40) for the first three kilometers and an additional 2.4 yuan for every kilometer after that. The price is currently 10 yuan for the first three kilometers and 2 yuan for every additional kilometer.

In response to the upcoming fare rise, 47.7 percent of respondents believe the increase is “excessive”, especially for those who rely heavily on them.

More than 30 percent of Beijing residents say they would cut back on taxi use, imposing a significant effect on drivers’ incomes.

The average expenditure per person on taxis in Beijing was 337 yuan from January to the middle of April, which suggests the average individual spends 1,200 yuan a year on taxis, the survey said.