Sunday, September 6, 2015

Taxi in London and Japan

In general, using a taxi is a valuable option when you have to visit a complicated area. Its advantage is it brings you to the exact destination.


To be honest, however, I do not trust taxi drivers in Japan. They often misidentify the place I order to go, unfortunately. The other day, I had to take another taxi because the first one brought me to somewhere far distant from the destination. It was a so disappointing experience.

Furthermore, they frequently ask me how to reach the destination. They seem not to know the way to use the car navigating system. Some taxis do not equip the navigation, and I seldom see the driver utilizing navigating apps properly.

In most countries, the taxi driver is one of the primary jobs for immigrants, because it requires no particular talents or skills other than driving. As a result, the salary of taxi drivers is very low, compared to other technical jobs.

In Japan recently, however, the government established a legislation to protect taxi drivers' income through restricting competition regarding taxi fare. It is said that excessive competition led to threatened taxi drivers' daily life in the last decade based on capitalism, and taxi companies made an appeal that official regulation was necessary.

I think it is ridiculous. Lowered income is the result of their low quality of performance. I feel that taxi delivery service has got worse for a decade. Not a few drivers are quite unfamiliar to the road status. In addition, the taxi fee is raised.

In the global point of view, Uber has been a strong competitor of conventional taxi companies. Uber is a web service with which anyone can become a taxi driver. Many armature drivers earn money using Uber as a temporal driver in a region where Uber is available, and users can call a taxi with low cost. Conventional taxi drivers now have to face a strong opponent before Google car.

In England, black cabs offer sophisticated services of taxi driving. Black cab drivers have to learn many things about geography and relevant knowledge before being authorized. Its strict standard makes them qualified and trustworthy.

Of course, their taxing fee is extremely expensive. Indeed, I almost never used a black cab in my London life. Rather, black cabs would be a strong ally of travelers.

Even black cabs have no choice other than lowering the fee to match Uber. They decided to make a discount in off-peak time.

The Independent: London's black cabs take on Uber with off-peak fares

I think black cab drivers understand their status well. Whereas blaming Uber, they have made efforts to keep their value up. Nonetheless, taxi-driving service itself is approaching to the corner. I wonder what do Japanese taxi drivers, which are also protected from immigrated competitors, think about it.

My past entry: Tube strike again to delay night tube in London

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