June 20, 2012, the nationwide taxi drivers went on strike and demonstrated in front of the Seoul City Hall asking for the Seoul Metropolitan Government to listen to their requests. The current basic taxi fare is 2,400 won, which has not increased since the 500-won increase in June 2009. The cost of living has risen about nine percent since 2009, according to Statistics Korea. In addition, statistics from the Korea National Oil Corporation indicates that the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) fuel used by taxis rose by 420 won per liter compared with 2009, being 1,173 won in May 2012.

We see many high school students taking taxis to school in groups of three or four. Currently, riding buses or subways costs less than a taxi for a single rider. However, if three people were to take a bus or a subway, they would have to pay 3,450 won, while a taxi costs only 2,400 won for three kilometers. Therefore taxi drivers earn much less compared with public transportation drivers, even though they serve the same number of people over the same period of time.

Not only that, the earnings of taxi drivers are heavily related to the number of taxi users. Due to extended subway lines, expanded roads, transferring on public transportations and chauffeur services, the number of taxi users is decreasing. While the cost of living rises, the taxi drivers’ wallets are becoming thinner. Consequently, taxi drivers gathered their voices to pour out their hearts in desperation.

The request in June was to make the basic taxi fare 3,000 won, an increase in the basic fare of 600 won. In addition, the Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Association requested 200 won for every extra 100 meters traveled after the three kilometers included in the primary fee. This needs to be done as fast as possible since the increase in the LPG price is making it hard for the drivers to earn money. For taxi drivers, the money spent on LPG is about 33 percent of the total revenue on average.

According to the Korea National Joint Conference of Taxi Association, it is estimated that the number of people working in providing taxi services is about three hundred thousand nationwide. Taxi drivers earn about one million, two hundred thousand won on average per month. This is only 80 percent of a single salary and wage earner’s household living expenses as determined by Statistics Korea in 2012. Taxi drivers are not even protected by the Minimum Wages Act and consequently are experiencing hardships in earning enough money to live.

An alternative to the high-priced LPG is Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). CNG costs about 600 won per liter, which is about half the price of LPG. Unfortunately, CNG-fueled taxis or diesel-only taxis are currently not being produced. To make one, about five million won is required to retrofit the alreadyexisting taxis, which is a huge cost. Moreover, it becomes a large problem when considering having to change over the already existing infrastructure, for example, LPG stations, and creating new CNG stations. On top of that, although CNG is currently used for bus fuel, there have been eight bus accidents related to CNG explosions. The cost and safety of CNG is questionable.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

On June 20, 2012, it was reported that 170,000 taxis were not in operation. The statistics proved that taxi drivers are desperate to accomplish their requests. To listen to the drivers more closely, The Granite Tower (GT) stood at Anam Samgeori (Anam three-way intersection) and randomly stopped taxis for an hour and half. However, twenty two taxi drivers refused to accept an interview for this article. Their reaction made it seem skeptical if whether they really want the requests made in June to be put into action. Most of them replied that they are afraid of some kind of reprisal.

Luckily, a kind taxi driver allowed the three letters in his name to be officially used. Still, he stressed that what he says is highly focused on his own opinion and not representing the nation’s taxi drivers in any way. Kim Hyosam (Seoul), a taxi driver in Seoul, welcomes every one of his customers with “Annyeonghasaeyo! (Hello!)” in a bright, lively voice.

Kim says, “The Korean labor standard law says one can work for 40 hours a week. Although 10,000 won per hour means 80,000 won per day, the fuel costs about 50,000 won per day. Drivers come out to earn 30,000 won a day doing this dangerous job. Taxi drivers are asking the Seoul Metropolitan Government to reduce these current hardships.” He showed his concern with a deep sigh.

He continued, “Receiving extra fees for going outside of Seoul city was taken out of the traffic laws. But the problem is not going out. Coming in is the problem when the fuel is so expensive. Unless one is fortunate, the car comes back empty to Seoul. Taxi drivers are not refusing passengers for spite. They need to understand our situation. Consequently, the basic taxi fare must be increased.”

There are taxi users who support the taxi drivers’ requests. Cho Ha Ram (’12, Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering) says, “It is important to consider the hard situation taxi drivers are in just as much as the customers’ perspective.” It is considered unfair to only be concerned about the taxi users’ position.

However, the quality of service was one reason for opposition. Moon Sae Yan (20, Seoul) says, “Taxis are a kind of transportation service, but there are more users who are not satisfied with the service than those who are satisfied. For the average person, getting along financially has been getting hard, but increasing the taxi fee due to expensive LPG fuel will not make the service better, nor is it an advantage to the users who are also having a hard time.”

Moreover, some taxi users say that the hardships of taxi drivers are not due to the level of the basic taxi fare. For example, Park Chan Hee (20, Daechi-dong) says, “I do not believe it has been long since the taxi fees increased. They seem to have increased enough already, and if the taxi drivers are not earning enough, they are not being paid enough by their taxi companies.” An alternative suggested by citizens is for companies to lower the daily amount that taxi drivers have to turn over to the companies, or increase the taxi drivers’ salaries.

Time for Action Now

A government employee with the Seoul Metropolitan Government says, “Making taxis public transportation by law was discussed with the Ministry of Land, Transportation, and Maritime Affairs (MLTM), which has control over it. They expressed some difficulty in making it happen because of the financial burden.”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the central government have been subsidizing the LPG fuel price for taxis until now. Recently, MLTM was requested to provide a tax discount for fuel used by taxis and to lessen the burden of additional tax on regular taxi drivers. Consequently, MLTM is discussing this with the Ministry of Strategy and Finance.

“Deciding whether to increase taxi fees requires the consideration of several factors, such as its affect on cost of living and the public’s pocketbook. There are no current plans for this, but is planned to be discussed with the companies in order to find some solutions to ease the difficulties through financial support and improvement in taxi measures,” expressed the Seoul Metropolitan Government, to show that they are not being ignorant about the issue.