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Taxi revenue down 2.8% since rates hiked in Tokyo

In December, taxi fares shot up 7.2% in Tokyo and about the same amount in the immediate vicinity. The idea behind the higher rates was, of course, to generate more revenue, which the taxi companies said they hoped to pass along to drivers in the form of higher salaries. It looks like they won’t have to worry about lying to the drivers about not raising their salaries any time soon, since this morning we found out that Tokyo’s taxi operators reported a 2.8% fall in average daily operating revenue over the first month since the higher fares were introduced.

The Tokyo Taxi Association, who announced the figures on taxi revenue, announced that the number of trips taken over the same time frame was about 8.9% lower since the higher fares had come into play. This countered what happened in Nagoya and other places, where fare hikes in the last year led to higher revenues.

Of course, those fare hikes weren’t done when gasoline was 150 yen a liter. The Tokyo Taxi Association blames the fall in revenue on consumers using taxis less that before, which it seems they have done (the figures were year-on-year), but we hear nothing of the impact of higher gasoline prices. The Tokyo Taxi Association points out that when fares were raised a decade ago, it took Tokyo passengers about a year to get used to the higher rates.

Of course, we have to wonder if people are simply seeking out alternative forms of transportation because they’re cutting back on their own budgets…next month’s numbers will be worth watching.

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