What is going on with the taxi rate increase? That was a huge increase for an industry that’s been struggling for a while because of way too many taxi cars/ taxi drivers.
If you do a night trip, and your meter hits 300, they will add an extra 55 to it plus the 20 TWD nightly surcharge. A grand total of 375 TWD. I’m all for supporting taxis despite their low level of customer service sometimes and the ability to get lost a lot and smoke in their car or have their car in a really nasty condition, but man for now I prefer just taking UBER unless it’s not available at that moment.
[quote=“Rabidpie”]What is going on with the taxi rate increase? That was a huge increase for an industry that’s been struggling for a while because of way too many taxi cars/ taxi drivers.
If you do a night trip, and your meter hits 300, they will add an extra 55 to it plus the 20 TWD nightly surcharge. A grand total of 375 TWD. I’m all for supporting taxis despite their low level of customer service sometimes and the ability to get lost a lot and smoke in their car or have their car in a really nasty condition, but man for now I prefer just taking UBER unless it’s not available at that moment.[/quote]
I heard there was suppose to be a price increase, but wasn’t the increase suppose to happen more towards December or Chinese New Year?
You know, I was all for supporting the taxi’s here when people were raving about uber. They’re making it harder and harder to gain my support by increasing fares when some taxi’s driving around town wreak of smoke and of course the lack of customer service.
To avoid this, I usually use one of the taxi apps. It’s a smaller chance you’ll have a taxi driver with bad customer service or a smelly taxi when they are from one of the bigger taxi companies.
As for the price hike, people will complain about it, but when you’re getting out of a bar or ktv at 3AM and there’s no other means to get home, you got no choice!
[quote=“ranlee”][quote=“Rabidpie”]What is going on with the taxi rate increase? That was a huge increase for an industry that’s been struggling for a while because of way too many taxi cars/ taxi drivers.
If you do a night trip, and your meter hits 300, they will add an extra 55 to it plus the 20 TWD nightly surcharge. A grand total of 375 TWD. I’m all for supporting taxis despite their low level of customer service sometimes and the ability to get lost a lot and smoke in their car or have their car in a really nasty condition, but man for now I prefer just taking UBER unless it’s not available at that moment.[/quote]
I heard there was suppose to be a price increase, but wasn’t the increase suppose to happen more towards December or Chinese New Year?
You know, I was all for supporting the taxi’s here when people were raving about uber. They’re making it harder and harder to gain my support by increasing fares when some taxi’s driving around town wreak of smoke and of course the lack of customer service.
To avoid this, I usually use one of the taxi apps. It’s a smaller chance you’ll have a taxi driver with bad customer service or a smelly taxi when they are from one of the bigger taxi companies.
As for the price hike, people will complain about it, but when you’re getting out of a bar or ktv at 3AM and there’s no other means to get home, you got no choice![/quote]
Yeah, basically all of what you said is what I feel is correct. Especially the getting out at 3AM. True words.
The price increase is prorated basted on the total amount, for example:
NT70-120NT + NT5,
NT125-175NT+NT10
I think most taxi drivers have that print out to show disgruntle passengers, although how accurate it is, you can only guess. I did ride in a few cabs that have the new meter system so if you’re in one of those cab, don’t get fooled into paying more.
Have any of you guys got in cab, realized it just smells like stank and walked back out?
Yes. That is what you are supposed to do. I can bear manly sweat -oh yeah- but 4 day old stank of settled binglang and Kaoliang and low quality tobacco from humid cigarettes and other assorted combinations of gunk are a no no.
This was hammered to me by a Japanese classmate the first year here and by gosh, she was right. Japanese people are very demanding when it comes to service, they are right and there is a reason why. You are paying for a service that includes safe, clean, efficient transportation. And you have a choice. You have plenty of choices here in Taiwan. yes, even at 3AM. Pick the newest, cleanest cab. I prefer from big companies.
Taxis from big companies have already -mostly- changed their meters to reflect new fares. If so asked, they will show the chart with the increments -which are a bit complicated. You have the right to this. Choose wisely. Do not just sit there and complain “all Taiwan taxis are dirty and smelly”. No, they are not. Yes, karaoke taxis are cute but they are not the norm. If you want to paint Taiwan as a backwater and make choices to support this idea, be my guest, it is your money and your loss. Even in the poorest parts of the world, many drivers take pride in having a clean cab, whether it is a rickshaw or a panga.
I’ve been using Uber exclusively since the fare increase a couple weeks back. So far so good. If there is no surge pricing, the rates are actually cheaper than the new taxi rate. I’ve had no smelly cars and they seem to drive in a reasonable manner compared to most Taxi drivers…many of which want to race as fast as they can to the next red light with little regard to human life. I think the rating system on Uber keeps things clean and neat and Uber actually kicks drivers out of the system if they get too many complaints. When Uber launched here, I was skeptical…now, not so much.
Does anyone know the reason of this price increase, and why it happened now in particular?
I mean, they are facing the Uber threat and their only answer is to raise prices? Looks like suicide to me.
[quote=“Kawa”]Does anyone know the reason of this price increase, and why it happened now in particular?
I mean, they are facing the Uber threat and their only answer is to raise prices? Looks like suicide to me.
You can count me in the Uber only club.[/quote]
I think its to compensate for the increase in gas prices.
[quote=“Robotea”][quote=“Kawa”]Does anyone know the reason of this price increase, and why it happened now in particular?
I mean, they are facing the Uber threat and their only answer is to raise prices? Looks like suicide to me.
You can count me in the Uber only club.[/quote]
I think its to compensate for the increase in gas prices.[/quote]
It’s because they haven’t raised their fares in seven years.
I am all for the a fari wage, but I think the increase is too much. I think it will just discourage people from even getting into a taxi. Would you rather make 100nt+5 than 0? They clearly did not take econ 101 with their price range out of wack.
And They messed up with when they slapped on the increase. It’s getting much cooler now, I’m less inclined to just hop into the next taxi bc it’s so hot than to walk 5-10 to the bus or the MRT with the weather nicer.
For the past 2 weeks I’ve been taking taxis to/from work because of a broken ankle. I tried Uber for the very first time yesterday–one trip to work, one trip to an offsite class, and one trip back home–and I really like it so far. The drivers have all been very polite and helpful with my temporary disability (only about half of the regular taxis bothered to help me), the cars have been clean, they don’t drive like maniacs, and I calculate I’ve been saving about 15% or more on the fares.
are you able to get around in a taxi? it’s pretty much the same thing. the app is in english so as long as you can communicate your destination in your broken chinese, show him the address in chinese or maybe a photo, i think you’re ok!
Just an aside on the pay for drivers. Uber released all of their data for their drivers in the US and the average Uber driver earns more than the average taxi driver there, even though they charge less. One reason for this is that the Uber app is far more efficient in connecting drivers to passengers, so Uber drivers spend more time driving with passengers. Taxi drivers are idle far more often (and, usually, also have a unnecessarily high regulatory burden, among other things).
But anyway, my point is that the money you pay for a service has no simplistic relationship with the pay of those providing that service. Just because you pay more for a taxi this does not mean that the driver earns more.
My Uber experiment is still going well. I save about 15-20% and the drivers are good and cars clean. A couple of my local friends have started using it with similar success. This fare increase timing was pretty terrible IMO. You don’t need any Chinese to use it. If anyone wants to try it I can pm you my code for a 200nt credit. First time users only.
I should add that my local friends are female and they really like the ability to share your ETA, position, and driver number via a Web link. They cited the safety aspect of it.
Uber all the way! Have been taking them for the better part of a year, and now exclusively since the taxi fare increase and have not had a negative experience. I’m saving 10-15% on the old taxi fares, so with the fare increases, I’m well up. I fear though, with all these new Uber converts, that it may be more difficult to get a timely car - but so far, so good
