Secretary-General of CPCA Suggests Increasing Online Ride-hailing Fees to Reduce Traffic Congestion in Beijing

Cui Dongshu, the Secretary-General of the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), claimed on NetEase News’ Insight program on April 12 that online ride-hailing services are primarily responsible for traffic congestion in Beijing. According to Cui, “In Beijing, taking a taxi is cheap. Therefore, we should raise the cost of using online ride-hailing services considerably to alleviate congestion.”

According to Cui, private cars are typically driven for only 2-3 hours per day, whereas ride-hailing cars are on the road for more than 15 hours daily. To address the overuse of low-cost travel options like ride-hailing services, Cui suggests raising prices.

According to an official document from the Beijing Government, there were 7.128 million motor vehicles in the city by the end of 2022, which is a rise of 278,000 compared to the previous year. The number of civilian cars increased by 113,000 from last year and reached 6.256 million in total; out of these cars, private ones accounted for 5.326 million.

On March 2, Baidu Map published its “2022 China Urban Traffic Report,” revealing that Beijing was ranked second among China’s most congested cities this year after being ranked first in the previous year.

Cui pointed out that fuel vehicle users currently pay high taxes without receiving equivalent benefits. He suggested lifting Beijing’s traffic restrictions and implementing effective regulations for the new energy vehicle industry.

In its analysis of the national passenger car market in March, the CPCA stated that as new energy vehicle ownership continues to rapidly grow, privileged policies for these vehicles will inevitably be canceled.

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According to Cui, the growth of new energy vehicles in China is happening too quickly. Currently, over 30% of newly added vehicles are new energy vehicles and this number is expected to increase to 36% this year and possibly 45% next year. By 2025, it’s projected that new energy vehicle sales will surpass those of traditional fuel vehicles, rendering current policy support obsolete. Therefore, Cui suggests that a separate license plate system for new energy vehicles is unnecessary.