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It's not easy to catch a taxi late at night these days, but it seems that it will be more difficult to use a taxi at night when the distance is completely lifted from next week.

The city of Seoul is urgently increasing the number of late-night buses, but there is no sharp way to increase the number of taxis.



Reporter Nam Jung-min on the sidewalk.



<Reporter> Last



night (14th), around Gangnam Station in Seoul.



After the meeting, people pour out and it is full of people trying to catch a taxi.



[Kim Hyo-jin / Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do: (Catch a taxi) It is very difficult.

Even if you go to a nearby place, you won't get caught, and you won't get caught even if you go far.]



I turn around to catch the owl bus that runs from 11pm to dawn, but I have to wait for a while.



[Seol Hee-joo / Yeoksam-dong, Seoul: (dispatches) The distance is far and the bus is limited, so take it with you…

In my case, I have to wait more than 30 minutes.]



Next week, when the distance is lifted, the demand for late-night travel is expected to gradually recover to the pre-COVID level.



The problem is that the number of late-night taxis has decreased by about 30% compared to before Corona.



As the number of passengers decreased due to Corona, about 10,000 corporate taxi drivers quit their jobs, and the remaining drivers are reluctant to drive at night due to their aging population.



[Kyung-tae Koo / Manager of Taxi Policy Team in Seoul: I think there are about 25,000 passengers that need to be transported additionally.

How do you fill that gap?

That countermeasure is the task we are facing.]



From Monday, we plan to expand the number of owl bus routes from 9 to 14, but this is only enough to transport an additional 3,500 people.



We are also considering extending the time for the last train on the subway, extending the taxi surcharge, and increasing the late-night surcharge, but there are no measures to fill taxi drivers.



[Taxi Driver: The salary is very low.

If you just pay your personal payments, your monthly income is only 130.

If you take off the 4 major insurances there, it will cost you 1.1 million won...

.]



The taxi fare system should be reformed to improve the treatment of drivers, but even this is difficult due to inflationary pressures, so the inconvenience to citizens is expected to continue for a considerable period of time.



(Video editing: Lee Jung-taek, VJ: Kim Hyung-jin)