Chongqing Municipal Taxi Service Management Information System Project

On November 3, 2008, a strike by some taxis in Chongqing’s main urban area had a significant nationwide impact. The Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government attached great importance to the incident. In response to the current challenges facing Chongqing’s taxi industry, the city’s transportation authorities have been committed to innovating management and service approaches and are actively preparing for the development of a taxi service management information system.

Project Background

On November 3, 2008, a strike by some taxis in Chongqing’s main urban area drew widespread attention nationwide. The Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government attached great importance to the incident and, in response to the existing problems within Chongqing’s taxi industry, the city’s transportation authorities have been committed to innovating management and service approaches while actively preparing for the development of a taxi service management information system.

Customer requirements

Through the implementation of this project, effective technological tools will be provided for the regulation of the taxi industry and for public services, standardizing the business practices of taxi drivers, improving the market environment, comprehensively enhancing the quality of taxi services, and safeguarding passengers’ legitimate rights and interests. A social oversight and evaluation mechanism will be introduced, the integrity‑based assessment system will be refined, and the level of industry supervision will be elevated, thereby fully leveraging the government’s macro‑regulatory role in the taxi market. The project will also help reduce urban congestion, promote energy conservation and emissions reduction, and enable the taxi industry to fulfill its social responsibilities, fostering stable, standardized, orderly, and healthy development in Chongqing. Meanwhile, by carrying out this project, we will actively explore ways and approaches to enhance both oversight and service standards in the taxi sector through information‑technology initiatives, promptly distill lessons learned, and lay a solid foundation for broader industry‑wide adoption and application.

Solution

1) Upgrade and retrofit taxi onboard terminal equipment

Install in-vehicle terminal devices—including smart service terminals, taximeters, service rating systems (for both front and rear seats), and vehicle status display panels—on all 12,000 taxis in the city.

(2) Information Resource Planning and the Development of a Taxi Data Repository

Analyze the data content of the taxi industry, develop a data collection plan, and establish a taxi industry data resource center that encompasses a foundational database, an operational database, and thematic databases.

(3) Develop nine major business application systems

Develop nine major business application systems, including a monitoring and command system, an on-demand service management system, an integrated operations analysis system, a dynamic supervision and inspection system, an enterprise online business management system, a service quality oversight and evaluation system, an information release management system, a public‑transport IC card payment management system, and a floating‑car traffic information system.

(4) Building a foundational support system

Build a foundational support system, including a network infrastructure platform, host and storage systems, and application support systems.

(5) Propose construction requirements for the corresponding supporting projects of the taxi service management system.

Propose the construction requirements for supporting projects, including the taxi data resource center, the call‑center service center, and the monitoring and command center.

Customer Value

From an economic perspective, the project has enhanced industry regulators’ overall oversight and service capabilities, while reducing their time and cost expenditures. It provides taxi operators with tools such as vehicle monitoring and dispatching, facilitating more efficient fleet management and helping them cut both time and operational‑management costs. Meanwhile, by offering passengers services like telephone hailing, online ride‑hailing, contactless fare payment via public‑transport IC cards, and complaint handling, the system delivers convenient, practical integrated information services and streamlined channels for lodging complaints, thereby saving passengers valuable time.

From the perspective of social benefits, the primary contributions include providing supporting data to industry regulators for strengthening quality‑service oversight, enhancing market‑supervision capabilities, and informing industry‑wide decision‑making; helping taxi operators standardize their operations and deliver high‑quality services, thereby ensuring the personal and property safety of drivers; effectively curbing practices such as detours, passenger‑hopping, and abrupt drop‑offs, thus facilitating public travel and offering channels for complaints, suggestions, and service evaluations; establishing a monitoring platform that can effectively deter “clone taxis,” safeguarding the interests of taxi drivers and upholding market fairness; and enabling the timely detection of abnormal concentrations of taxis, thereby providing an effective means of preventing gatherings that lead to disturbances or strikes.