Chin-Yuan Wang

Hello everyone, I am Chin-Yuan Wang (王晉元) from the Department of Transportation and Logistics Management at National Chiao Tung University. I am very happy to be here today.

In the past, I conducted research related to taxis for the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. In recent years, I have worked on taxi dispatch operations, and recently I became interested in Uber.

I came here today probably because I said a few things on certain occasions. I am also very glad to have this opportunity to share some of my thoughts with you all.

Just now Uber mentioned the single mother smiling very happily. I feel that's only seeing the new bride smile, without seeing the ex-wife cry.

In today's taxi industry, as mentioned earlier, if Uber is introduced, will it cause existing ecosystems and existing operators to collapse?

Is the taxi industry today ultimately a specially licensed and regulated industry?

Like highway coach transport, it definitely is. I can buy cars or set up a company, but can I run the Taipei-Kaohsiung route? No, I must submit an application, stating how much demand there is between Taipei and Kaohsiung, and whether this demand is already saturated. If saturated, I cannot enter.

Are taxis currently regulated or not? Fleets must be regulated. We now open individual taxi operator permits—like if you have a driving license for six years and no violation record for three years, individual taxi operator permits seem never to have been blocked, seemingly defenseless.

Therefore, if the MOTC feels this is a regulated industry, the MOTC should regulate it properly. It shouldn't be that anyone satisfying all passive conditions can enter this industry, because it is already over-saturated. This over-saturation is caused by policy, and I feel our analysis of each other needs to be clarified.

Second, I've been thinking: why don't rental car operators and taxi operators direct their target at rental cars? Rental cars have R-plates and also require professional driving licenses. If taxis all open up individual taxi operator permits, if so, to what stage must this market saturate? I think we can still find ways to regulate.

Third, I won't hide it either: I have also contacted Uber and made suggestions. Today Uber under Taiwan's current regulations is simply illegal. Just as mentioned earlier, today in some remote areas of Taiwan public transport is insufficient. Seeing in the news that the government wants to spend NT$2 million in subsidies to serve three people, why not ask them to take taxis? They don't even have taxis; taxi fleets are 20 or 30 kilometers away, and calling a cab to run 20 or 30 kilometers is impossible.

If today some remote rural areas and Indigenous townships opened up using Uber first, perhaps it could fill the last mile of Taiwan's public transport.

Perhaps everyone can run in first and see if we can give it a try. The above are my thoughts.