Low entry threshold for taxi drivers

Sign up the management system, improve laws and regulations, coordinate the development of public transportation, build good communication channels between the government, enterprises and drivers, and standardize the management of taxi drivers.

Since the beginning of November, taxi strikes have occurred one after another in many places in our country. Some of the deep-seated problems exposed are worrying and thought-provoking.

To this end, "Want Want News Weekly" visited Beijing, Chongqing, Gansu, Hainan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hebei and other places to communicate face-to-face with taxi drivers. My strongest feeling is that there are no taxi management regulations from the central to local governments. Many places have no taxi development plans and driver management is absent.

The taxi management regulations should be improved as soon as possible.

Taxi managers interviewed believe that the strikes in Chongqing and Sanya are caused by the long-term accumulation of problems that taxi management cannot be relied on and has no rules to follow. At present, the "Road Transport Regulations of the People's Republic of China" does not stipulate management measures for taxis, but only states that "the measures for the management of taxi passenger transport and urban bus passenger transport shall be separately formulated by the State Council." There are not many taxi management systems in the road transport regulations promulgated by various provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and opinions vary. For example, there are not many short articles on taxi management in the "Zhejiang Province Road Transport Regulations" and the operability is not strong. The Shijiazhuang Municipal Government also issued taxi management regulations only a few years ago, and the new regulations have been "revealed for a long time."

Wang Shiqi, president of the Chongqing Taxi Association, suggested that the central government should improve taxi laws and regulations as soon as possible, clarify how to improve the basic quality of the entire industry, set entry barriers, introduce guiding measures, and change the taxi business model. For example, if you want to convert a company's contract operation into an independent operation, the government should provide incentives. The central and local governments must also have clear opinions on key issues such as whether taxi capacity will be increased, how fares will be set, how taxes and fees will be determined, and how paid usage fees will be priced. In addition, in order to improve the service quality of taxis, the government should also encourage company branding.

Chongqing taxi contractor Cheng said that the government should formulate strict regulations on market entry and exit of taxis, cut off the interest chain between management departments and companies, and clarify the property rights of companies and contractors. Zhao Hongyan, deputy director of the Transportation Bureau of Yongchuan District, Chongqing, suggested that if the geographical area, population size and geographical location of the city are different, the development status of taxis will also be different. When the central government promulgates regulations, it must clearly provide instructive and universal macro guidance, and local governments must formulate relevant regulations according to local conditions.

Clear the positioning of taxis and coordinate the development of public transportation.

Many experts interviewed believe that when developing taxis in various places, most of them do not consider the overall development of public transportation. Some big cities are developing rail transit, while small and medium-sized cities do not have rail transit. Some cities have developed buses, while some counties have buses that cannot keep up with taxis. Therefore, cities with different populations and different levels must clearly define the positioning of taxis and make overall plans for the development of public transportation.

For example, in a megacity with developed rail transit and bus industries and dense crowds, how to determine the number of taxis per 10,000 people? How to determine the number of taxis in large and medium-sized cities with no rail tracks but developed public transportation industry; how to determine the number of taxis in emerging counties and small cities with underdeveloped public transportation? Du, deputy director of the Lanzhou Municipal Transportation Bureau, believes that in megacities and large and medium-sized cities, taxis should supplement public transportation. But in counties and small cities, taxis should be an integral part of public transportation.

Yongdeng County, Gansu Province began to rectify the taxi industry in May 2006 and determined 280 taxi franchise indicators. At that time, the government encouraged self-employed drivers to go through operating procedures for free, but it was not until July 15 that the quota was fully reported. Due to the slow development of buses, there are only 2 routes and 10 minibuses, and the taxi business is getting better and better. In just one year, Yongdeng County's franchise index rose from worthless to 20,000 yuan on the market. A taxi owner told this reporter that he bought a taxi last year for 43,000 yuan, of which the franchise index fee was as high as 20,000 yuan. If the government had made it clear earlier and developed taxis first, the index fees would not have been so high.

Han Bing, director of the Changsha Municipal Public Transport Passenger Transport Management Office, said that taxis provide public welfare services and have certain public service product properties. When operating in the market, they should be positioned in the market.

The government can use price leverage to balance. Taxis and taxi drivers are linked through economic contracts and hope that the management fees charged by the price department to the companies will be included in government pricing projects. For example, the current monthly fee in Changsha is 1,000 yuan. This fee should be determined by the price department.

Duan Liren, former deputy director and chief engineer of the Beijing Municipal Transportation Administration Bureau, believes that the taxi problem has existed for a long time, mainly because of the inaccurate positioning of social functions, and secondly because of the low status of the taxi industry in the transportation system. . According to statistics from the Beijing CPPCC, there are 68,000 taxis in Beijing, employing nearly 200,000 people, and transporting 1.66 million passengers every day. The daily bus passenger flow in Beijing is 10 million, and the rail passenger flow is 4 million. The passenger flow of taxis is far less than these two categories. In contrast, although taxis are used by a few people, they are public welfare. Taxis should be used by many people between buses and private cars, and their positioning in the urban transportation system should be an auxiliary tool for public transportation. Based on this positioning, in the management of the taxi industry, taxis must be consciously included in the scope of public transportation management, and the principles of giving priority to service awareness and benefiting the people should be followed. Western and Nordic countries have already begun to establish this concept, where taxis can use bus lanes.

Establish a normal reflection channel recognized by the driver group.

The lack of effective channels for appealing interests is a common problem reported by taxi drivers. Some places have taxi industry associations, and some taxi companies also have trade unions. However, taxi drivers believe they are representatives of government or corporate interests. Once conflicts arise with governments and businesses, driver teams are reluctant to defend their rights through associations and unions.

Wang Zhenyu, a Qingdao taxi driver rights protection lawyer and director of Beijing Yipai Law Firm, said: "There are four main channels for taxi drivers to resolve labor conflicts, namely petitions, litigation, and industry association negotiations. , strike. "

Zhou, an associate professor of the Department of Law at China Youth University of Political Science, believes that the mature approach abroad is to bring labor conflicts into legal channels and mainly rely on trade union representatives to resolve labor disputes through negotiation. However, in Chongqing, it was not until after the strike that the head of the Chongqing Taxi Association announced that a taxi driver branch would be established within the taxi association with free participation by drivers.

The establishment of a trade union has a positive effect, but if it is divorced from the mass base, the association and trade union will have no credibility among taxi drivers. A person in charge of the Shijiazhuang Municipal Transportation Management Office believes that judging from past associations and trade unions, their role is not obvious because many presidents are appointed by the government. He said that only by truly establishing associations and unions in accordance with their charters can they build a bridge of communication between the government, enterprises and drivers and fully and truly reflect their demands. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions has issued a notice asking all localities to promote taxi companies to form unions, but it must be recognized that independent associations and unions must be established to truly become a normal channel for taxi drivers to defend their rights.

After the strike, the work of forming a trade union among Chongqing taxi companies has begun. The Chongqing Federation of Trade Unions and the Chongqing New Economic and Social Organization Working Committee jointly issued a notice requiring 155 taxi companies and 1,086 retail taxi operators in Chongqing to establish trade union organizations before the end of November to provide an organizational platform for drivers to protect their rights.

The specific approach of the Chongqing Federation of Trade Unions is that for individual taxi employees, in principle, "individual taxi unions" will be established on a district or county basis. If there are financial difficulties during the preparation period, the local district and county federation of trade unions should provide appropriate subsidies. Trade union leaders demand democratic elections and the appointment of those who can speak on behalf of the people. Enterprises should not interfere in manipulation and strictly put an end to "boss unions". After the establishment of the trade union, it will focus on promoting collective negotiation and the signing of a collective contract system with vehicle contract fees, wages, rest and vacation, and labor protection as the main negotiation contents, so as to ensure that employees' income and social security levels increase simultaneously with corporate benefits.

Establish an entry and exit mechanism for taxi drivers.

Du, deputy director of the Lanzhou Municipal Transportation Bureau, pointed out that taxi employees across the country are very complex and can be roughly divided into six categories. Unemployed people, idle people, and laid-off people are the three main groups, followed by people released from prison, model workers of Communist Party members, retired leading cadres, and two county-level cadres in Gansu Province in the past few years. However, it is difficult to calculate the proportion of personnel in the six categories because the industry is highly mobile. He believes that 40% to 60% of taxi drivers in the country are mobile. They work when they make money and don't work if they don't.

But overall, taxi drivers are weak, petty, unorganized and disorganized.

At present, the threshold for the taxi industry in various places is relatively low. Our reporter reviewed the "Changsha City Public Passenger Transport Industry Employees' Access Management Measures" and "Wenzhou City Taxi Passenger Transport Management Measures" and other regulations. The regulations for taxi operators are relatively simple. Generally speaking, drivers applying for taxi passenger transport must have a permanent residence in the city or a valid temporary residence permit approved by the public security authority. Obtain the corresponding motor vehicle driving license and have more than 2 years of driving experience; be in good health and no more than 60 years old; have no major traffic accident records within 3 years. Wenzhou taxi driver Zhang Hui is from Anhui. He told reporters that it is easy to take a taxi in Wenzhou. After registering for simple training at the Traffic Management Office, you can pay rent to car owners every day and operate a taxi. Many of his fellow Anhui people come to Wenzhou to drive, and many of them have not graduated from junior high school.

Wang Shiqi, president of the Chongqing Taxi and Car Rental Association, told reporters that compared with domestic taxi drivers, the entry threshold is lower, and taxi drivers in London, UK, are all older drivers. The license exam is too difficult and requires extensive experience and sufficient preparation. One of the test contents is that the driver can memorize more than 3,000 local place names.

Many interviewed experts believe that the first step is to appropriately increase the income of taxi drivers so that the industry can receive corresponding rewards while working hard and attract high-quality talents to enter the industry. Taxi drivers have a wide range and are highly mobile. Passenger transport management departments across the country are short of manpower, and it is too difficult to manage thousands of taxi drivers. Putting a mantra on the head of the taxi company simplifies the complexity. Xia Xueluan, a professor of sociology at Peking University, believes that the rights and obligations of taxi companies should be stipulated in detail so that taxi companies can truly become an economic entity with social responsibilities and harmonious labor relations. Han Bing, director of the Changsha Passenger Transport Management Office, said that the taxi industry is a city’s window industry and represents the city’s civilization. In provincial capital cities, taxis carry hundreds of thousands of passengers every day. This is an industry that is closely related to the general public. The key to improving industry service quality is to improve the access mechanism. At the same time, although there are some regulations on the exit mechanism for taxi drivers, it is very difficult to implement in practice. The taxi operating model is company-car owner-driver, which is mainly an economic benefit chain. The company only charges money and lacks training and education. The competent authorities can add relevant clauses to the operation rights renewal contract. From this point of view, the drivers, car owners and the company will be bundled so that their corresponding responsibilities and rights can be consistent, and the company will also have strict requirements for the drivers. (Wang Jintao, Zhu Guoliang, Yan Zhiming, Liu Yang)

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