WE ARE RESOLVED TO RECTIFY THE TAXI INDUSTRY1
AUGUST 19, 1988
Some say the taxi industry is just experiencing a short-lived storm, but I think this is a welcome storm. The current manner in which taxis operate has become intolerable and a major problem affecting the improvement of Shanghai’s investment environment. Outside newspapers, particularly those in Hong Kong, have described Shanghai’s taxis as an utter mess, which is indeed the case. I’ve said that foreigners have confidence in Shanghai, but actually their confidence isn’t all that great. If you can’t even manage your taxis well, how can you manage your investment environment well?
Some of the incidents recently described in the papers are really outrageous. The Xinmin Evening News, for example, reported that when a passenger from the military was overcharged and spoke up, the cab driver beat him and then drove off. That is really too much! Rectification of the taxi industry is an important issue in improving Shanghai’s image. [Problems with] taxis as well as buses must be corrected—we are determined to do this well. After about two months of intensive work, our colleagues at the Municipal Construction Commission and the Office of Public Utilities Management have proposed a tentative rectification program. To do a good job, we must pay attention to three aspects of this work.
1. Rectify Labor Discipline
A key concern is labor discipline, but it can’t be remedied just by relying on high-pressure methods—ideological work is also needed. What’s more, this must be done meticulously and in depth. I hope that Shanghai’s taxi drivers will approach this issue by proceeding from the big picture of Shanghai’s revitalization. To revitalize Shanghai, we must use foreign capital; therefore we must improve the investment environment, attract foreign investment in Shanghai, and draw many tourists here to sightsee.
At present tourism generates forex roughly equivalent to RMB 1 billion a year—but that’s not enough; there should be more. Shanghai has many high-end hotels that need greater occupancy if they are to make money. If people are willing to come to Shanghai but then are annoyed to death by the bad behavior of taxis, why would they want to return? I hope all those in the taxi industry will proceed from this big picture, support the government’s decision, observe labor discipline, and contribute to Shanghai’s revitalization. I believe that the vast majority of cab drivers are of high caliber. Once things are explained to them clearly, they will help the government do a good job.
2. Implement Scientific Management
As a first step, we must strengthen taxi management and introduce unified dispatching and centralized direction. Some taxis belong to state-owned enterprises, others to joint ventures; still others are run by hotels or are individually operated. We must manage the industry with rules and systems, rewards and penalties, rates for fares—all of which must be standardized. The public transit section of the Municipal Office of Public Utilities will be responsible for managing the industry. No matter whom your taxi is affiliated with, you must accept the management of that section. In the future, we will also have telephone dispatching and strengthen our command communications. Right now you can’t summon a cab, nor do you know where all the cabs have gone.
Second, fare meters must be installed in all taxis, their reliability must be ensured, and they must be strictly managed. Each cab must be marked with the sign “Taxi.” Agencies that hire out their cars must also be fitted out with “Taxi” signs and meters, and their fare charges, drivers’ photos, and car numbers must be prominently displayed. If any behavior violates the rules, passengers should be able to immediately file a complaint. We must also set up a telephone line for complaints, which will facilitate oversight by users.
Third, we must restrict chartering of taxis. At present, there are 10,000 vehicles for hire citywide, of which 7,000 are sedans. In fact, 6,000 of these are operating each day. Quite a large number of these cars have been chartered by government agencies and enterprises—that won’t do. Henceforth we must restrict long-term charters and raise their cost. After the taxi situation gradually improves, people will feel that it’s better to hail taxis as needed rather than charter them, and then they’ll no longer request charters.
Fourth, fares must be reasonable. We don’t permit overcharging, but in light of the current situation, cab fares can be raised a little. [The new fares] will be issued on September 1; fares will be divided into long-distance and short-distance rates, and the starting charge must be reasonable.
3. Have a Strict System of Rewards and Penalties
We must severely punish the bad apples to serve as a warning; of course it’s even more important to promote what is right by commending those who observe the rules—we must do both. When a passenger files a complaint, we must get a clear picture of the matter through investigation and then handle it strictly in accordance with the law. A professor from the Chinese University of Science and Technology who was furious when overcharged as soon as he got off a plane wrote me a letter saying that if only the city government had the resolve to cancel the licenses of 200 drivers, Shanghai’s taxi industry would be properly rectified. I think that there should be a penalty whenever anyone breaks the law.
Some individual taxi operators say, “This is just a passing gust of wind. Once it blows over, everything will go back to the way it was.” Others go even further: “The public transit section had better not push us too hard, or else we’ll tell all.” I’m announcing right here that this wind isn’t going to stop blowing, and if you don’t abide by the law, it’s going to blow right at you. As for “telling all,” I don’t understand what that means. Perhaps the public transit section has some little weakness that others know about and they’re afraid it’ll be exposed. They should not be afraid of this: I’m declaring here that no matter what problems you had in the past, from now on we’ll let bygones be bygones. However, if after today you continue to behave inappropriately, then you’ll be held accountable for your mistakes both past and present. If you’re in charge of others, you must first be straight yourself. If you’re not straight, how can you make others straight?
Another thing: our public security and judiciary agencies must protect managerial staff, they must protect factory directors, managers, and heads of vehicle teams. We should collect all the relevant rules and draw up a regulation that can be presented to the Municipal People’s Congress to be legislated on. The city of Harbin has done this: factory directors/managers have established communications with the public security bureau and with local police stations. Whenever there is an accident, they only need to make a phone call and the police will arrive promptly. Foreign countries all do it this way. If you come to my home to harass me so that I can’t work or eat for days on end, that’s a violation of my personal freedom and is against the law—the police can take you away. Recently the Zhenhua and Friendship Taxi Companies have been strengthening management, and 16 people have already been sacked. That’s very good and they should be commended.
Letter of November 20, 1989, to Yang Guoping, general manager of the Shanghai Dazhong Taxi Company, and Zhou Xiuhua, deputy secretary of the company’s Party branch.
Of course we also have to be understanding of the situation individual taxi operators face and help them resolve some concrete problems, so as to win their acceptance. It isn’t easy to be an individual cab driver: they must go everywhere “offering incense and praying to Buddha,” while auto parts are as expensive as can be and can’t even be bought without giving gifts. To correct these unhealthy trends, we have to help them with issues like a shortage of capital, difficulties in buying auto parts or in getting repairs done. We must give them support, because only then will they accept our management. The managerial agencies must put in hard work and handle this well.
Through rectification, we want to have taxis that “stop when hailed, offer courteous service, charge standardized fares, and are both convenient and safe.” If all our taxis can do this, it will help create a positive image of Shanghai and revitalize it. This is an honorable task, one that we can surely achieve through our joint efforts. Shanghai produces its own automobiles and has excellent material conditions for the development of taxi services. This year, Shanghai Volkswagen will produce 15,000 sedans; it will produce an additional 1,000 to be used as taxis. Next year, it will produce 20,000 cars and is preparing to make another 2,000 to support the taxi industry. That’s why the prospects for development of the taxi industry in Shanghai are very promising. The revitalization of Shanghai will benefit us all. I hope we will work together to rectify Shanghai’s traffic and its taxis.
1. This is part of a speech by Zhu Rongji at a Shanghai conference on improving citywide traffic, rectifying taxi management, and improving traffic safety. In order to rectify and standardize its taxi market and improve its investment environment, Shanghai established the Dazhong Taxi Company in December 1988. The company borrowed RMB 63.5 million to purchase 500 red Santanas. At the same time, it introduced the following service measures: taxis were to stop when hailed; ask for directions when boarding passengers; accept telephone orders and show up on time; provide fair and reasonable computerized fare calculations, along with clean cars and courteous service.