taxi – Beijing Kids

Didi Docks Services in Response to Virus Spread

Admin — Sun, 26 Jan 2020 02:00:06 +0000

As the Coronavirus continues to spread and claim lives, companies are taking various measures to help prevent the spread of the disease. Last night at midnight, DiDi announced that they’ll be suspending their Beijing inter-city reshaping services, inter-city taxi-hailing serves, and inter-city designated driving services starting on January 26. The municipal transport authorities have already suspended all inter-provincial road passenger transports since Sunday to curb the spread of Coronavirus, the Beijing News reported. It’s unclear from their message whether the decision to suspend Beijing’s inter-city services is a corporate one or a request from local authorities or when they will resume their inter-city services.

*To clarify: inter-city means from one city to another city — in other words, if you want to take a DiDi to Tianjin, you’re out of luck. Normal ride hailing within city limits is not affected.

In the days leading up to the decision, DiDi had already encouraged their drivers to wear masks, disinfect their cars every day, and leave the windows open to allow for proper air circulation.

For those staying in Beijing this week, DiDi’s car services will be operating normally and their CNY price hike still applies. Until our beloved city gets its groove back, we encourage families to take the appropriate precautions to stay safe.

The app automatically adds a gratuity fee or ‘surge’ in order to reward those drivers who haven’t fled the city due to the virus or have not returned home during the spring festival period. The surcharge fee applies as from Tuesday, Jan 21 until Monday, Feb 3 and will apply to all types of rides, including carpooling service. Expect to pay as much as an extra RMB 9 per ride during this period.

One more handy feature (presumably, also available only in the Chinese version of the app) is the “Spring Festival Rider Guide.” where users will be able to check this in-app guide for up-to-date information on average hailing success rates as well as the most difficult times and areas to hail a car.

Source: DiDi Chuxing, The Beijinger, China Daily
Photos: giphy, Pan Daily, Property Portal Watch, Mike Wester

Smoking Banned From All Beijing Taxis

Andy Penafuerte III — Thu, 25 May 2017 07:00:48 +0000

Beijing’s anti-smoking campaign continues to get stricter as a city-wide ban on smoking will be enforced on its 71,000 taxis, announced the city’s health and family planning bureau.

Under the new regulation, neither taxi drivers nor passengers will be allowed to smoke at any time during a taxi ride.

All Beijing taxis will now bear anti-smoking signs, and violations can be made via a phone hotline at 12320, or to the city’s traffic enforcement agency.

Taxis are just the latest Beijing mode of transportation that prohibits smoking, following the example led by Beijing’s subways, buses, and its Capital Airport.

After implementing a city-wide indoor smoking ban in 2015, Beijing began to see some progress in its campaign to stop smoking. After some 700 venues were cited in the first week alone as well as raising taxes on cigarettes, there are now 200,000 fewer cigarette smokers in Beijing.

After having become well-accepted by its local restaurants and bars, banning smoking in taxis appears to be the next logical step in completely banning cigarette use throughout Beijing. While previous 2011 anti-smoking legislation was criticized for being ineffectual, this latest news along with greater public acceptance shows that a proposed nation-wide smoking ban may not be as far-fetched as first imagined as other Chinese cities like Shanghai adopt indoor smoking bans of their own.

China has some 316 million smokers, of which 733,000 Chinese were diagnosed with smoking-related illnesses, including lung cancer, in 2015.

Photo: China Daily

This post first appeared on our sister site, The Beijinger. More stories from this author here.
Twitter: @Sinopath

A First Look at Didi’s English Interface

Andy Penafuerte III — Wed, 24 May 2017 02:46:42 +0000

Didi has slowly rolled out its English interface — and hurray, we at beijingkids got a chance to try it.

Some notes:

Street names and the whole map now are now in English.

The top tab only shows car options (express, taxi, or premier) no bike/Ofo, or bus.

Searching for an English-name address? When you fast-type it, chances are that the search bar will not show any results. Try to use keywords first if you see no options. (If you have a Chinese address or name, then it still works, and will pull up a pinyin or English translation.)

For pick-ups, there are no changes in the interface; it still shows the name of the driver, the car’s number and color, and options like cancel request.

In the Customer Service menu, you’ll see a list of your recent trips and FAQs. When tapping the options (like payment options, “Why was my ride paid twice”), you’ll see an explanation without any prompt to contact a customer service representative (just only thumbs up/down button).

Payment options and details are also in English, like for an international credit card, but second party payments, like WeChat, will link to the app already installed on your own phone.

So there you go. The English interface looks friendlier and a lot easier to use.

Photos: Andy Penafuerte, Vanessa Jencks

Beijing Taxi Companies Launch App, Service to Compete with Didi and Uber

Nimo_Wanjau — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 05:30:38 +0000

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em? After trying unsuccessfully for more than a year to shut down or otherwise reduce the use of car-booking apps Didi Dache and Uber, two of Beijing’s largest cab companies are joining the fray by introducing their own app and on-demand car service, demonstrating they are totally missing the point as to why the other apps and the services to which they are linked are popular.

Shouqi Yueche, named for the Beijing Shou Qi taxi company, gives "riders access to 500 cars that were previously officially licensed taxis but had struggled to find curb-side customers as more people book cabs online," reported The Financial Times. What the hell does that mean? You can’t book any old Shou Qi taxi, you have to use one of these 500? Again, that’s not the point.

The cars being used for the new service are black Nissan Sentras and Buick GL8s. Flagfall is RMB 16, plus RMB 2.8 per kilometer, and RMB 0.5 per minute of waiting time. The Shou Qi Group stated that the cars will have Wi-Fi, phone chargers, tissues, and in case of inclement weather, umbrellas.

Maybe these cars weren’t making money because they weren’t clean, or didn’t know where they were going, or didn’t pick up passengers when people attempted to hail them on the street. Is there a shortage of passengers in Beijing? Absolutely not. If taxis actually picked up passengers instead of just giving them the wave off as they search for someone who looks like they’re going to the airport, then maybe the apps wouldn’t be so popular.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on September 21, 2015.

Cab Alternatives: Dididache

heatherbudimulia

It’s an unfortunate Beijing reality but I’ve probably spent more time waiting for cabs that’ll never come, and haggling with black cab drivers over unreasonable prices, than I’ve spent in a cab. Maybe it’s because I live in Shunyi but most legitimate cab drivers won’t take me and black cabs use it as an opportunity to quote outrageous prices. So I’ve found two alternative ways to get around Beijing. Part two of this two-part blog post is about Dididache. You can find part one about Yidaoyongche here.

Dididache bridges the gap between people waiting for legitimate cabs and cabs looking for passengers. The app is available for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone operating systems, and only requires a Chinese phone number to register.

Like Yidaoyongche, this app allows you to request a ride in real time or book one in advance.

Booking in real-time: Type your destination into the search box at the bottom of the screen, or allow the app to access your microphone and say the address into the mic. I confess that I’ve never used the microphone because I’m terrified that my accent will cause confusion. The app remembers past destinations so you can select yours from a list.

Dididache also allows you to offer a tip of RMB 5 or more to incentivize a driver to come get you. I’d do this if you’re going to a far-flung part of Beijing or if there aren’t that many cabs in your area.

Booking in advance: Hit the button on the bottom right of the screen to call a cab in advance. The process is the same as above; you type in your location and your destination, then set the pickup time and date. The shortest lead time option available is 15 minutes and the options only come in 15 minute increments. However, you can book a cab at any hour of the day; if you’re planning to travel at a really awful time (like holidays or rush hour), I’d book far in advance.

I’ve had more success with booking in advance because most drivers hate Shunyi and don’t like going there just to pick up a fare. At least if I give the driver advance notice, he can plan to work around the airport, then come pick me up. Or, if they live nearby, they can take me into the city and make some money on their commute.

Payment: Dididache is just a cab calling service, so expect to pay cash according to the meter. However, if you somehow have access to WeChat payment, you can link it to your Dididache account for a discount on your ride. The driver gets a bonus as well, keeping both sides happy. I hear you can set up WeChat payment without a Chinese ID or credit card, but I haven’t tried it myself.

Overall: I find that Dididache is sometimes worse than hailing a cab off the street, especially if you’re not planning on tipping. At least in a real cab, I can obnoxiously get in before telling the driver where I’m going, making it hard for them to refuse me.

Heather Budimulia is a rising college sophomore, beijingkids’ intern and 北京人in progress. Though originally from Singapore, she spent a decade in Beijing and since she learned to bake and fell in love with publication there, considers it her home. When not in the office or storing sleep for college, she’ll probably be in a coffee shop with a good book, her journal or a stranger (or all three).

Cab Alternatives: Yidaoyongche

heatherbudimulia

It’s an unfortunate Beijing reality but I’ve probably spent more time waiting for cabs that’ll never come, and haggling with black cab drivers over unreasonable prices, than I’ve spent in a cab. Maybe it’s because I live in Shunyi but most legitimate cab drivers won’t take me and black cabs use it as an opportunity to quote outrageous prices. So I’ve found two alternative ways to get around Beijing. Part one of this two-part blog post is about Yidaoyongche.

Yidaoyongche, or Yidao, is an app like Uber that connects you with a pool of professional black cab drivers. It is available for iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Unfortunately, the app is in Chinese, but it’s fairly intuitive and uses lots of symbols. Plus, you really only need to know how to get to the “Call a Driver” page, so click the 开始订车 button and get started.

WHO: At the top of the page, you type in the phone number of the person needing the cab. After you select a driver, you’ll be texted each other’s numbers so you can communicate.

WHEN: The second panel is to determine the time you’re booking the car for. You can call one for use right away or for weeks in advance.

WHERE: The most important step is telling the driver where to go. The application uses GPS to figure out where you are so you don’t have to type that in if you have Internet access. You do have to type in where you’re going, but the application saves your recent searches for your convenience.

HOW: Finally, you select which kind of car you’re looking for. The options range from cheapest to most expensive from left to right. The left most car is a promotion deal that charges RMB 10/ half hour + RMB 1/ kilometer. However, I’ve used Yidao for two months and never had that car offer to take me, so I just check it off in the hopes that one responds. The second from the left is the economy car, which charges RMB 15/ half hour + RMB 3/ kilometer.

The fare estimator at the bottom is fairly accurate because it relies on GPS.

Once you’ve filled in all the fields, the app sends out your details and drivers can express interest by responding, but you’ll get the final say on who comes for you. The buttons on the top, from left to right, allow you to order the results randomly, by ratings, by price or by distance from your location. Click on a driver to pick him.

After you reach your destination, make sure that the driver turns off the GPS in front of you. Most do and one told me it was policy, but it’s a good practice. Then you’ll be notified by text message the cost of your trip and the money will be deducted from your Yidao account. You’ll have two hours to rate your driver and you also have the option of adding him to your favorites if you thought he was particularly good. I personally only favorite the drivers that live in my area because I know they’ll be more likely to pick me up.

Payment: You have to use a Chinese credit card to top up your account via internet banking. No money changes hands with Yidao, so while you can call someone you met via the service to pick you up, you still have to go through the motions and order the car through the app.

Overall: Yidao drivers are friendly and are willing to go the extra mile because they rely on customer feedback. Also, your driver will always know where he’s going because the application uses a GPS to calculate the distance traveled. Short rides are more expensive than a legitimate cab, but for longer trips, I find Yidao more economical. You get a voucher for 10% of your top up value whenever you add money to your account too, which doesn’t hurt.

Heather Budimulia is a rising college sophomore, beijingkids’ intern and 北京人in progress. Though originally from Singapore, she spent a decade in Beijing and since she learned to bake and fell in love with publication there, considers it her home. When not in the office or storing sleep for college, she’ll probably be in a coffee shop with a good book, her journal or a stranger (or all three)

Ouch! Higher Taxi Fare To Come

morganshang — Tue, 28 May 2013 07:00:01 +0000

Taxi fares are likely to go up again, which means an increase in the starting price, the per-kilometer charge, plus a charge for waiting time. But, are we sure this will really improve conditions for the drivers?

Beijing taxi drivers were known to be friendly and talkative with their customers, always willing to discuss any matter, and some of them still carry this passion for their job, but there is good reason to be unmotivated as well. Most of them work all day to see most of their earnings spent on levies.

Taxi drivers work 10 hours per day just to earn around RMB 4,000 every month. In the last seven years, the fare of taxis has not changed, but the income per capita has been raised 60 percent and the fees that taxis have to pay to the companies have increased as well.

Because of this situation, lots of drivers have stopped working during rush hour, since they don’t want to lose money in the traffic. The end result? It’s even more difficult to find a cab.

Will the rise of fare improve this situation? Logically, higher fares equals higher income for taxi drivers, but it’s not that simple. The taxi companies might as well increase the fees that drivers have to pay. Moreover, if the price gets higher, people might also be less willing to take a taxi and take a bus or the tube instead. The situation could actually benefit unlicensed taxies that are usually cheaper.

That’s why a rise in the fares cannot represent a permanent solution to the problem, unless there are some good premises, like the government preventing taxi companies to raise their fees or to steal the raise.

Source: Fare rise is partial solution

illustration from flickr user laskhgee124