Baotou launching Inner Mongolia's first official taxi-hailing app

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2016-06-03

The city of Baotou in Inner Mongolia announces an official taxi-hailing app that is meant to serve both passengers and drivers - especially the former who complain about how hard it is to get a taxi during rush hour, and the latter who grumble about urban traffic and the difficulty of getting good customers.

Demonstrating operation procedures for new official taxi-hailing app, in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

It underwent trial operations on June 1, signaling Baotou becoming the region's first city to take an official approach to taxi-hailing.

Yin Zhongxiang, vice director of Baotou's transport office, explains that people can call a taxi in three different ways - by phone, or WeChat, the large Chinese social network platform, or via smart phone app - giving riders alternatives, especially those who don't know how to use WeChat or an app, allowing them to simply call by phone.

Logging onto the app, a person can call all drivers nearby and wait for any vacant taxi or choose car sharing or even ask for express delivery for small packages.

The driver is expected to contact the passenger once a booking has been made, and to arrive punctually and wait for at most 10 minutes if the passenger is not on the spot.

Taxi-hailing app chart flow. [Photo/China Daily]

And, for more frugal passengers, there is a "car sharing" option for those heading in roughly the same direction, so they can split the cost.

A driver can also earn more for urban deliveries, and the customer only needs to enter the address on the receiving end and phone number for the transaction.

All the services can be paid for by phone or in cash, introduces Yin.

To enjoy these conveniences, he adds, the two parties are of course expected to abide by the regulations, and there is a credit system for drivers, whereby those with a low score based on passenger reaction could lose their advantages in getting orders. Likewise, any passenger that reneges on a call repeatedly without notifying the call center or the driver will be blacklisted and refused usage for a period of time.

The fact that this app first came to Baotou is not a coincidence. The city covers a very broad area so it's difficult for people in less popular areas to call cab, and the drivers sometimes find it hard getting a passenger on their way back to the downtown area after taking someone to the outskirts, causing inconvenience and wasted energy in both.

So, the city says, the official app is the perfect solution, and could at the same time bring greater safety and its urban transportation department will help install smart terminals in taxis recently.

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