Money

Chauffeurs lead the field with tipsy fans

By WANG CHAO (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-22 08:18

Soccer fans celebrate in Sanlitun. Police have tightened inspection on drunken driving during the World Cup period, which is leading to a boon for the chauffeur business. [ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY]

Chauffeur companies are witnessing a striking improvement in business during the World Cup from fans opting to play safe on their way home from the pub.

Some small- and medium-sized chauffeur companies, providing drivers but normally not vehicles - are claiming to have seen 30 percent more revenue.

During the football tournament, bars have been awash with fans choosing to share a drink while catching a match.

To abide by the law, many are turning to the chauffeur companies for help.

"Our business has spiked by almost a third since the World Cup began," said Liu Qingyu, manager of the Changyinwuyou Chauffeur Company.

Liu said her company usually receives about 50 orders a day in March and April, but that figure has climbed to 70 since the kickoff of the World Cup.

She said her drivers live all across the city. The closest employee to the pickup is called first, in order to guarantee a response time of less than 30 minutes.

Drivers usually take a bus to the spot, drive the customer home in his or her own car, then either bus home or phone to get collected.

A driver surnamed Yan from Changyinwuyou said he gets most of his customers from Dongcheng and Chaoyang districts, where the bars and clubs cluster.

Yan said he is happy with the increase in business and ecstatic about not having had to transport any really drunken people home.

"Maybe, they all calmed down after witnessing the endless failures of the Chinese team," he said.

Peak times have changed too. Before the games, most orders came between 7 pm and 9 pm, but now the calls remain steady well past midnight, Liu said.

Compared with a regular taxi, the chauffeur service doesn't come cheap.

Between 10 pm and 11 pm, a journey shorter than 10 km will cost 80 yuan. It then jumps to 100 yuan for rides between 11 pm and midnight.

"It is still cheaper than many similar companies though," Liu said.

One possible reason for the better business is the idea that many taxi drivers are not keen to drive drunken fans home.

"Some of them throw up in my car," complained Xia Jianzhong, a taxi driver from Tiancheng Taxi Company.

"And some are so drunk that they fall asleep immediately after they get in and can't be awoken."

Wang Wen, a taxi driver who works a 24-hour shift, also shuns fans.

"I don't expect to make money from those guys," Wang said, recalling one passenger who constantly changed where he wanted to go.

But it seems private chauffeurs, not affliated with such companies, are making the real money during the sporting season.

Liu Tianqiang, who has worked as a private chauffeur for five years, said he has picked up two or three more customers every night since the soccer event started.

"I charge less than those companies so I get a considerable number of customers," he said.