Shenzhen of Guangdong Province will not raise taxi fares despite the recent nationwide fuel price hike, Vice Mayor Zhang Siping said in a radio program Wednesday.

The government will cut the monthly rent for taxi drivers to reduce their burden and will not collect fuel surcharges paid by passengers, Zhang said. Many other cities have decided to raise taxi fares.

Starting tomorrow, the monthly rent for red and yellow taxis inside the special economic zone (SEZ) will be reduced by at least 815 yuan (US$100), and for green taxis outside the SEZ by at least 565 yuan.

Zhang said fuel prices were raised five times last year, which resulted in an increase of 0.6 yuan for each liter of fuel. Running a taxi thus costs an extra 1,000 yuan each month, which will probably increase further after fuel prices rise again this year.

China increased the prices of refined oil products Sunday. The price of 90-RON gasoline went up to 4.22 yuan per liter from 4.04 yuan, 93-RON from 4.34 yuan to 4.55 yuan and 97-RON from 4.69 yuan to 4.92 yuan.

The 12.5-yuan taxi flagfall for the first three kilometers and waiting time charges in Shenzhen are the highest in the country, as is the 2.4-yuan charge for each additional kilometer.

As a result, many people prefer to buy private cars or take illegal taxis or buses, posing a threat to the increasingly worsening traffic environment.

Statistics by the local communications bureau show the occupancy rate of Shenzhen taxis is around 70 percent. Most taxis run 24 hours a day in two shifts.

There are now 73 companies with taxi registrations in Shenzhen, of which 68 operate 10,305 taxis using more than 21,000 drivers. Of the total number of taxis, 8,196 are red taxis, 309 are yellow ones, while the 1,800 green taxis are limited to operating outside the special economic zone.

The bureau said that the city records more than 200 million taxi passengers a year, which accounts for 21 percent of the city's public transport capacity.

Apart from minor adjustments in 1996, the city's taxi rates have changed little since 1994 when the target taxi passengers were people from Hong Kong and Macao as well as businessmen.

(Shenzhen Daily March 31, 2006)