Curb-side taxi hailers and those booking cabs through dispatch centers could soon have an easier time catching a ride during rush hour.
Starting Monday, roughly 6,000 cabs each work day will give priority to street pick-ups and those dialing dispatchers during peak commuting hours, according to a notice issued by the Shanghai Transport Commission.
During these peak periods — between 7:30am and 9:30am as well as 4:30pm and 6:30pm — designated drivers will be discouraged from accepting fares through third-party mobile taxi hailing applications.
Drivers will comply with the new policy based on the last number of their license plate. Those with plates ending in a 1 or a 6 will be ordered to follow the rules on Mondays; those with a final plate number of 2 or 7 will follow the rules on Tuesdays; 3 or 8 on Wednesdays; 4 or 9 on Thursdays; and 5 or 0 on Fridays, according to the commission's notice.
Signs will also be placed on the dashboards of participating vehicles to distinguish them from other cabs.
The new scheme will involve five of the city's local taxi fleet operators: Qiangsheng, Dazhong, Haibo, Jinjiang and Yinjian.
Passengers can dial 12345 or 12319 to report cabs which break the rules. Offending drivers will be dealt with by their employers, say transport authorities.
With more and more people booking taxis via smartphone applications, many local residents have complained about the difficulty of finding vacant cabs during their commute.
