The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) is researching ways to balance supply and demand in the market for taxis.
Research by the ministry’s Institute of Transportation (IOT) showed that the supply of taxis far exceeds the demand. On average, a cab driver works 12.17 hours a day and drives around with an empty car about 80 percent of the time. Last year, each cab picked up around 18 customers per day, down from 21 in 2006. Wang Mu-heng (王穆衡), director of the IOT’s management division, said the research also showed more people were using branded taxi services, such as Taiwan Taxi (台灣大車隊), particularly in big cities.
“Take the Taipei metropolitan area for example. They [branded taxi services] own about 20 percent of the total cabs, yet they control about 40 percent of the market,” Wang said, adding that the situation makes it difficult for independent cab drivers to survive.
To address the issue, Wang said the National Police Agency (NPA) has made it more difficult for individuals to pass the taxi driver qualification exam by testing their knowledge of roads and operating under different road conditions.
As the local governments are the administrative authority for distributing licenses for cab drivers, Wang said that the institute might propose using the vacancy rate as one of the factors to determine the cab service charge.
Wang said some cab drivers could serve other markets.
“As public transportation remains unavailable in some of the nation’s regions, the government could find a way to use cab drivers to fill the gap,” he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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