Beijing offers plan to raise cabbies' income

The starting taxi fare in Beijing is likely to be raised from the current 10 yuan ($1.60) to 13 yuan, in an effort to raise the income of taxi drivers, said the Beijing municipal commission of development and reform at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

The commission is proposing two plans for local taxi fare changes, both of which raise the starting fare by 3 yuan, to 13 yuan, China Central Television reported on Tuesday.

The fare for each kilometer would be raised from the current 2 yuan to 2.3 and 2.6 yuan in the two plans. The 2.3-yuan plan could raise taxi drivers' monthly income by 1,400 yuan, while the 2.6-yuan plan could raise their income by 2,300 yuan, according to the commission's statement.

The plans will go through a public hearing in two weeks, said the statement.

Media reports say that the current fuel surcharge for taxis in Beijing will be withdrawn in June following the public hearing. But that may not be the best way to deal with the taxi fare problem, says an article on gmw.cn.

Excerpt: Taxi drivers have been complaining that they do not make enough money because they have to pay a large part of their incomes to taxi operating companies and suffer losses because of severe traffic jams in Beijing. So going by the laws of economics, it would be reasonable to increase taxi fares to improve cabbies' income, with many people suggesting that the entire extra revenue go to cab drivers.