Local News

The downturn in taxicab passengers led to an initiative in five districts in Fukuoka Prefecture in 2009 for the industry to voluntarily reduce or idle its fleet by 1,500 excess cabs. A survey has shown that taxi companies have achieved only about 40% of the target, or 652 cabs, however. An estimated 10% of the taxicabs still in operation in those districts aren’t required. One explanation for the hesitancy to reduce the fleets is that most of the taxi companies have small fleets of fewer than 30 cabs, so it is difficult for them to cut back.