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Taxi drivers chat as they wait for customers in Shinsekai neighbourhood of Osaka, Japan, 21 May 2020. EPA-EFE/DA

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Kyodo News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171255394678020240408 taxi epa.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Taxi drivers chat as they wait for customers in Shinsekai neighbourhood of Osaka, Japan, 21 May 2020. <em>EPA-EFE/DA</em></span></span></span>TOKYO — Japan on Monday launched ride-hailing services in Tokyo, with other areas across the country to follow suit in a bid to address a nationwide shortage of taxi drivers.</div><div><br/></div><p>The country partially lifted a ban on the services earlier this month, allowing drivers with a standard license to offer taxi services on specified days and hours using their own private vehicle, provided they are under the management of a local taxi company.</p><div><br/></div><p>The Tokyo Hire-Taxi Association, one of the operators involved in the project, held a ceremony to commemorate the launch, demonstrating how drivers use a dedicated smartphone app to receive dispatch requests and to input health-related data concerning their fitness to drive.</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/01/21/24/tokyo-bus-operator-banks-on-foreign-drivers-as-shortage-looms">READ: Tokyo bus operator banks on foreign drivers as shortage looms</a></div><div><br/></div><p>&quot;We will greatly expand the ride-hailing business and establish it throughout Japan to resolve a shortage of transport providers,&quot; transport minister Tetsuo Saito said at the ceremony. He went for a test ride using the service.</p><div><br/></div><p>About 80 drivers were available as of Monday morning, with the services used around 50 times before 9 a.m., according to the association.</p><div><br/></div><p>Registered vehicles are dispatched with destinations and fares calculated in advance. Only cashless payments can be accepted in principle.</p><div><br/></div><p>The services are now available in Tokyo&#x27;s 23 wards and the suburban areas of Musashino and Mitaka from Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to before 11 a.m. and from 12 a.m. to before 4 a.m. on Saturday mornings.</p><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Psw-4DrMzOE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>The services will later be expanded, with the transport ministry having also allowed their introduction in other large cities such as Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.</p><div><br/></div><p>The government is aiming to start the services later this month in Kyoto, Nagoya and Yokohama.</p><div><br/></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/18/23/japan-cracking-down-on-illegal-taxis-as-tourism-boom-drives-demand">RELATED: Japan cracking down on illegal taxis as tourism boom drives demand</a><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/11/18/23/japan-cracking-down-on-illegal-taxis-as-tourism-boom-drives-demand"></a><br/></div>

<p>Japan partially lifted a ban on the services earlier this month, allowing drivers with a standard license to offer taxi services on specified days and hours using their own private vehicle, provided they are under the management of a local taxi company.</p>

Japan partially lifted a ban on the services earlier this month, allowing drivers with a standard license to offer taxi services on specified days and hours using their own private vehicle, provided they are under the management of a local taxi company.

Japan launches ride-hailing services in Tokyo, other areas to follow

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Japan launches ride-hailing services in Tokyo, other areas to follow

Kyodo News

Published April 08, 2024 01:27 PM PHT

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