The Japanese government announced that it plans to expand the private ride-sharing service, which was first introduced in April, to the whole country within this year, local public broadcaster NHK reported. “The Japanese version of ride-sharing needs to be distributed not only in cities but also across the country, including provinces,” Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Tetsuo Saito said at a meeting on ride-sharing held on the 4th (local time), “Please aim to introduce it in all prefectures (wide local governments) within the year.”
In April, the Japanese government launched the first ride-sharing service in Tokyo and Kyoto to provide paid transportation services for private drivers to solve the problem of difficulty in using taxis and buses due to lack of drivers. Unlike other countries, it requires ordinary drivers to provide transportation services in the form of being employed by taxi companies in consideration of safety.
At the meeting, the government proposed a policy to review operational rules to promote distribution in local regions. Currently, passengers will basically use it after confirming the departure point, destination, and fare through the dispatch application, but in the future, it will be possible to use it through other methods such as phone calls in areas where the application is not distributed.
Local governments set the operating hours from 4 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays to 5 a.m. on the following day, and put an upper limit on the number of flights. However, the government has also decided to ease the requirement from now on.
SALLY LEE
US ASIA JOURNAL
