Shanghai's traffic authority is considering a plan to raise prices for the taxi service following gasoline price hikes, a government official said at November 10 press conference.

According to the plan, the service would keep the minimum charge of 10 yuan (US$1.20) the same, but start charging more after two-and-a-half kilometers, he added.

Currently, the fee only begins to increase after three kilometers.

Officials from the local taxi management department refused to comment on the proposal yesterday, saying it is still under discussion.

"There are several other schemes and it remains unclear which one will come into effect," a taxi official told Shanghai Daily.

So far this year, petrol prices have been raised three times, which has cut into the money taxi drivers earn.

By the end of the year, a taxi call service will be connected to 4,000 local cabs, according to Bian Baiping, director of the Shanghai Traffic Bureau. He said so at November 10 government press conference.

The idea is that empty taxis will wait in 350 designated areas for a call instead of cruising streets looking for customers, which clogs traffic.

By 2007, all of the city's 43,000 cabs will be connected to the network.

Currently, an average of 45 percent of taxis on the street at any one time aren't carrying a passenger, which is very uneconomical in terms of the pollution they cause to the environment and a waste of limited traffic resources, officials said.

Instead of flagging down a cab on the side of the street, commuters will be able to call for a taxi, which will be dispatched from the nearest waiting spot.

"People will also be able to press a button at any flag-down point and the call center will inform a taxi at the nearest waiting harbor to take the business. It will only take a couple of minutes," said Bian, the traffic bureau director. 

Downtown shanghai will soon have at least one cab waiting harbor and one flag-down point every 500 to 800 meters of every street, officials said.

(Shanghai Daily November 12, 2004)