Is the taxi software an innovation or a wreck of the market order?

Dr. Dong, chief architect and general manager, adjunct professor, Shanghai Institute of Finance

Absrtact: The author believes that the current mainstream taxi software is the market order of the destruction, in the absence of supervision of the environment, it has seriously hampered the taxi industry's healthy and sustainable development, people's daily taxi caused a significant obstacle and injustice, urgent need to be strict supervision and guidance. The market and the Government should do their respective roles, the market provides innovation and vitality, the government guarantees fairness and order, which is the kingly way to protect the sustainable development of Chinese society.

In recent times, the battle between Tencent and Ali, the two giants vying for a mobile payment portal, has entered a white-hot phase, both giants have invested 1 billion of billions of dollars to subsidize their respective tick-tock taxis and quick taxis to foster their own mobile-payment users, laying the groundwork for their competition in the field of mobile power.

This seemingly generous market behavior, immediately after the first year of age, from the date of birth on the controversial taxi software on the cusp. A time of disagreement, around the "should support or against the taxi software" This problem, the community has been divided into two major points of view of the opposition, clear stance of the camp. "Force" think, taxi software is a good thing, can greatly facilitate people's daily call car, to reduce the taxi empty rate, improve the efficiency of social resource allocation is also beneficial; Moreover, the subsidies of the two giants also give the cab and passengers a lot of money. "Opposition" is that a lot of taxi software malpractice, in the near-vicious competition, those so-called "advantages" is actually only "look beautiful", simply can not offset the many drawbacks, and advocated a resolute halt.

In the final analysis, is the taxi software a useful innovation, or the market order of the destruction? How should we look at the two big "blood spell" taxi software behavior? The author believes that the current mainstream taxi software is the market order of the destruction, in the absence of supervision of the environment, it has seriously hampered the taxi industry's healthy and sustainable development, people's daily taxi caused a significant obstacle and injustice; unless effective and standardized management is immediately available, Otherwise, those cheering for taxi software and high subsidies will soon be repentant.

I. The particularity of the taxi industry

Taxi industry is a special industry, although with the civil aviation, public transport, rail intersection and other narrow sense of public transport, it has a certain personalized color, but in essence, it is still a certain public transport services.

Any taxi that obtains the legal qualification and carries out the regularization operation must abide by the following principles:

A. Mandatory service principle: As long as the roadside recruit or pass the electricity to confirm, must provide the service, the driver should not hire without reason.

B. Principle of undifferentiated service: anyone has the right to recruit or book an electric adjustment, and a driver cannot be picky about a customer because of his or her characteristics (such as the need for medical attention, blood or vomit) or the distance of his or her route.

C. Pricing principle: the implementation of open standard prices, not because of the weather and other reasons and arbitrary price increases.

D. Chronological principle: who first recruit or make a telephone call, who has the right to priority access to services, not because of the fare increase to the tip and other factors change this order.

E. The principle of safety supremacy: it is the first rule to deliver the customer safely to the destination; During the ride, the taxi and its management company are responsible for the passengers ' traffic safety.

Two. What does the taxi software bring

With the intervention of the taxi software, the principles of this passage have been undermined, while the high subsidy of the two giants has helped.

1. Refusal to negotiate

It is well known that, based on taxi fares, long-distance and short-distance orders are the highest in profit margins, and for the sake of reducing no-load rates, taxi drivers like to take long-distance orders and loathe short (especially short) order.

In the previous model, whether it was a roadside or an electric reservation, the driver did not know the destination until the passenger got on the bus. Therefore, in order to maximize the benefits, the driver's dominant strategy is "have a single connection." But after the use of taxi software, the situation has reversed. The driver had already known the destination of the passengers, so they could pick the passengers-only a long distance, a slip, a blind eye to short appointments and roadside strokes.

On the macro level, the vast majority of passengers are in fact the short distance demand (in long-distance commuting, bus, rail and other vehicles have obvious price advantage), so many people who use the taxi software complained that "instead of taxi difficulties" is not surprising.

From another point of view, the need for long-distance taxi customers, in addition to a very small number of money, the other is mainly the elderly and the sick pregnant or carrying a large number of luggage, from the perspective of social justice, this is the most should be the priority to protect the people.

2. You didn't discuss it.

As mentioned above, the normal operation of the taxi is the implementation of standard prices, not because of the weather and other reasons and arbitrary price increases. But because of the intervention of taxi software, passengers can choose the fare increase when they call the car, this design will put the passengers themselves in a very disadvantaged position.

A. In the case of bad weather, the driver's willingness to get out of the car is reduced, and passengers are forced to increase their fares.

B. In the case of multiple passengers making an appointment, the passengers with the most fare increase will receive services, and passengers who do not increase their fares or increase their fares can only look at the car.

C. For short-distance orders, the driver is unwilling to pick up the bill without a fare increase.

D. The "Fare increase" feature, which appears out of thin air, has not been effectively restrained and regulated, and passengers are apt to fall into the vicious competition pattern of "cannibalism", while the drivers enjoy a free ride.

Therefore, we are surprised to see that the original relatively scarce taxi resources, in the role of fare increase mechanism, unexpectedly strong reverse attack, from the passenger strong buyer market has become a strong driver's seller's markets! Originally thought oneself get convenient passenger, finally put himself into a very vulnerable position of distress.

3. The hostage of the user, resulting in de facto discrimination and injustice

As mentioned above, the taxi industry has a certain public interest, and it is necessary to ensure that the widest possible range of people can receive the services as equitably as they could. In the roadside to recruit or call an appointment is the vast majority of people have the ability to do things, so this service booking method can be called fair.

But for taxi software, passengers must have intelligent terminals, install corresponding software, bind payment tools, learn to operate, and then have access to services-a series of thresholds that naturally exclude people who do not have these conditions, especially the large and middle aged, and for a variety of reasons have not yet possessed intelligent terminals/ People who have not yet installed taxi software and bind payment tools but need a taxi.

Frankly speaking, the two big electric power companies because of their own business competition, has been hundreds of millions of people have caused the de facto hostage, causing obvious discrimination and social injustice. We've read more than once about old people who can't get a car because they don't use a taxi software, only lonely walk to the doctor's report, even Ma Yun is spit Groove "My mother also can't hit the car" (see "It House" February 27 report, "Ma Yun: My mother can not get on the car"), this can not let us awake?

From the common sense, because the tools, knowledge and skills and other personal factors caused by the difference in quality of life is universal and normal, the owner of the private car to move more freely, will use electronic payment tools for people who will only be in line at the bank counters more convenient ... But this principle does not apply in the context of the current frenzy of taxi software and the fact that passengers have been placed in an unfair and disadvantaged position. What's more, there are cars that don't prevent others from taking public transit, and those who use electronic banking do not have any impediment to receiving services at bank counters (and, conversely, reduced congestion at the counter). Therefore, from the natural law point of view, the taxi software for the people who do not use this tool to bring great obstacles to the status quo, there is no justice and justice to speak.

4. To induce security risks

Safety is the highest principle of transportation service, and the popularity of taxi software threatens the normal traffic safety greatly.

We see that, in the interests of the trend, the cabbies are in the car on the shelves of smart phones. In the no-load, one side of the car, pay attention to the roadside there is no Yang recruit (taxi software to provide customers far from reaching saturation), one side also pay attention to the mobile phone broadcast demand (when there is a need to do so in time); even when passengers are driving, they tend to look at the next order on the side of the car (even if there is a rush to get the passengers off the bus, busy to pick up Extreme events of the "Big list"). This situation not only brings the safety of drivers and passengers, but also is a violation of the Road Traffic Safety law (car can not use mobile phone).

5. Congestion and chaos at transport hubs

The airport, train station/long-distance bus station, wharf and other public transport hubs have huge passenger flow, in order to ensure the throughput efficiency, we must strictly implement efficient and orderly management.

In the past management mode, these hubs have been followed by queuing (storage pool/storage fleet), sequential showmanship mechanism, which is the most efficient management method available at present. With the arrival of the taxi software, all of this is a challenge – a taxi that has been set up to pull its own customers as quickly as possible will inevitably have to rendezvous with customers in inappropriate locations, disrupting queues or parking in areas where parking is prohibited, causing chaos and congestion.

Three. Can taxi software really help drivers improve their income?

Taxi software provides a way to communicate and make appointments between passengers and taxi drivers, but it does not change the market's supply-and-demand relationship-passengers will never become more willing to take a taxi because of the use of the taxi software, and the number of long-distance orders on the market has not changed. If passengers use the taxi software to make an appointment, and the driver is still in the overall scramble for long-distance orders, preferring to give up the short and the roadside, the consequences are obvious: the largest proportion of the market demand for short-distance orders will be a large loss, most drivers are not single, a large number of passengers can not get to the car, Thus resulting in greater waste of resources and the huge loss of collective income. The shortcomings we have seen now fully validate this assertion.

We do not deny that the support of taxi software people will be able to find a number of typical cases: the mind is flexible and proficient in picking the driver with the help of taxi software greatly improve the income, and even summed up a number of "Raiders", "Cheats" out. In the early days of the popular taxi software, such a "successful case" is very easy to dig, because the use of few people, the competition is not very intense. But in the context of the current vicious competition, such "winners" will become increasingly difficult to find. In fact, in any case, based on any argument can be found in the corresponding success stories, and the crux of the problem is not whether someone succeeds, but whether such success can be replicated, the status quo can be long-term maintenance.

Four. The subsidy battle between the two giants is suspected of unfair competition

The two giants cost nearly tens of billions of "taxi war", is a long-term sustained negative profit management, itself with the "dumping" nature, is a typical unfair competition behavior. Their scramble for mobile payment users has seriously interfered with the normal and orderly development of taxi industry, whether from the angle of economic benefits or from the perspective of social justice, it is more harm than good!

Five. Markets and governments must perform their duties

To sum up, the current taxi software brings the various chaos and hidden dangers, in the final analysis is the lack of government governance caused. The current problems are caused by the failure of the Government and relevant regulatory authorities to effectively manage and channel timely and allow the software and companies to freely compete and misuse their tools.

The author believes that the use of intelligent terminals to call taxis is a useful innovation and exploration, is the original roadside Yang recruit and call the car a useful supplement (provides a new, convenient way to call the car). If properly managed, and in a fair and efficient manner, together with the traditional way to serve the public, it will indeed be beneficial to the livelihood of the great good. The problem is that there is a serious lag in the government's guidance and supervision, and there are obvious "selective law enforcement" tendencies in enforcing the law--how can the government tolerate such a long time if it is not a giant such as Tencent and Ali, but a small, unknown company, if it is not the Giants such as Tecent and Ari?

At this point, I am pleased to see that the Shanghai municipal government as the representative of the management department has begun to act-on February 26, the introduction of regulations to strengthen regulation, and tick-tock taxi and quick Taxi will also be completed in March with the Shanghai main taxi company scheduling platform docking. Hope that these measures can be the way, let the taxi software This innovative tool to truly play its beneficial side for the taxi industry's benign development and public travel to create real value.

In particular, I would like to emphasize the view that: the market is the source of economic vigor and innovation, the government is the cornerstone of guaranteeing the fair and orderly operation of the society; we can neither to the simple pursuit of order but to the government to put everything to death, nor to the simple pursuit of innovation and make laissez-faire disorderly competition; Let the market return to the market, The government, which is the government, is the only way to ensure sustainable development. Hope that the community can really from the taxi software War event to learn lessons, in the future development no longer go the same detour.