Regulations on color requirements and pricing for taxis might be relaxed if a policy being considered by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications will go into effect in May amid the government’s ongoing tussle with Uber, the ministry said.
The ministry said it submitted a draft policy to the Executive Yuan last month after analyzing similar laws in Malaysia and Singapore.
If passed, taxis would be divided into normal and reserved, with normal taxis keeping their original yellow color scheme, the ministry said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Reserved taxi operators would be free to choose the color of their vehicles and illuminated taxi signs would not be required to be mounted on the roof or could be kept inside the car, the ministry said.
If the policy is approved, normal taxis could nearly double starting prices, the ministry said. For example, the starting price for a ride in Taipei would rise from NT$80 to NT$150.
Under the proposal, taxi operators would also be allowed to post different prices during peak and off-peak hours, but this option is to be predicated by whether a taxi can offer sufficient value in terms of car model, the ministry said, adding that vehicles would not necessarily have to be expensive Mercedes-Benzes or BMWs, but they should be relatively high-class models and not older than seven years.
The proposed scheme would also encourage taxi operators to upgrade to electronic payment methods, allowing customers to pay with credit cards before the journey and just get out at their destinations, the ministry said.
Operators with fleets of vehicles would be encouraged to design smartphone apps to allow passengers to know the model and color of the car that will pick them up, the ministry said.
The policy would offer consumers more choices and allow taxis to operate under a new management method, the ministry said, adding that it was still negotiating with taxi unions and consumer groups.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese