A taxi drives in central Seoul on Dec. 1, when the Seoul Metropolitan Government began applying its new late-night taxi surcharge, aiming to ease the taxi shortage. Newsis

By Lee Hae-rin

The Seoul Metropolitan Government's plan to allow taxis to charge passengers an additional late-night surcharge, introduced to alleviate the chronic taxi shortage late at night, is drawing mixed responses from both passengers and drivers.

According to the city government, the late-night surcharge for taxis in Seoul can now be charged from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., starting two hours earlier than the previous midnight to 4 a.m.

The new measure enables taxis to charge 20 percent to 40 percent more for late-night rides, with a 20-percent surcharge applicable from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., and a 40-percent surcharge applicable to the peak late-night hours between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m.

The base fare for a late-night drive has increased from 3,800 won ($2.92) to range between 4,600 and 5,300 won, depending on the time of the ride.

The measures increased the number of late-night taxis operating by 19 percent ― between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. ― from the night before the policy was applied, according to the city government, Friday.

A total of 23,649 taxis were in operation between 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. on the first night of the plan's implementation on Dec. 1. The figure is a 42.9-percent increase from the same period of the previous week at 16,553.

The figure was also an 8.3-percent increase compared to the number of taxis operating during those hours in December 2019, before the outbreak of the pandemic.

Earlier in November, the Seoul Metropolitan Government scrapped its three-part shift system for privately owned taxis in an attempt to increase the late-night taxi supply ― which declined due to the pandemic ― from around 20,000 to 27,000 but saw few results.

A 32-year-old Seoul-based office worker surnamed Kim grabbed a cab on his way home from a company dinner on Thursday. "Usually, it would take a lot longer to get a taxi this late (via a mobile app), but I was glad that it got much easier (this time)," Kim told The Korea Times, Sunday.

However, he was unaware of the new late-night taxi surcharge and was surprised to see the base fare start at 4,600 won ― higher than what he had expected. He paid over 12,000 won for his trip home, which would normally cost him around 10,000 won at that time.

To prevent such confusion, a taxi driver surnamed Jeong, who has driven a taxi in the capital for 20 years, told The Korea Times that he notified every one of his passengers on Thursday night about the increased late-night surcharge.

"We (taxi drivers) were going through difficult times with poor working conditions and little income, so the new late-night surcharge is good news for us," Jeong said.

Another Seoul-based office worker who wished to be identified by her surname of Lee said that although she didn't take a taxi on Thursday night, she was surprised to witness dozens of taxis lining the streets on her way home from work. She often caught late-night cabs after working overtime at night, but the increased taxi fare troubles her. "I'm not sure if I will be able to take them as often as I used to," she said.

Meanwhile, another taxi driver in his 50s surnamed Park is dubious about the effectiveness of the new surcharge in relieving the taxi shortage.

"Many of us (taxi drivers) have left the industry during the pandemic for better paying jobs such as with delivery platforms," Park said, "And I haven't heard much about them coming back."

Park worried that the 20-to-40-percent increase in the late-night base fare might be "too much" for passengers, possibly deterring them from using late-night taxi services at all. A number of passengers that took his cab on Thursday and Friday nights protested against the raised fare, he recalled.