Zhejiang Online, September 1st report
Yesterday, we reported on the chaotic management of taxis at Jinhua West Railway Station, where long-term problems of violent solicitation and selling of passengers mid-journey by so-called "Lanxi cars" and "Yongkang cars" have existed (see Jinhua West Railway Station: "Official Taxis" Engaged in Unscrupulous Business Practices).
After the report was published, it sparked strong reactions from citizens. Many readers called the hotline to strongly condemn this phenomenon and suggested that relevant departments should take it very seriously and crack down hard.
"The relevant departments of Jinhua, such as transportation management, traffic, public security, and the railway station, need to take responsibility and carry out joint rectifications," suggested a teacher from Zhejiang Normal University.
The problem has accumulated for a long time; how can it be truly resolved?
Taxi Public Security Management Office: Multiple Departments Have Already Coordinated
When talking about the chaos of taxis at the West Railway Station, Yan Yaping, deputy director of the Jinhua Public Security Bureau's Taxi Public Security Management Office, also deeply felt: "This has already been an old problem."
In 2006, the monitoring equipment installed by the city transport management office at the station provided great convenience for the rectification of the order at the square of the West Railway Station, but eventually became just a "display."
"About a month ago, I went to the traffic police monitoring command center to understand the situation," said Yan Yaping. "I found out that many monitors were broken due to lightning strikes or other reasons and could no longer be used."
Yan Yaping stated that they had come up with some solutions, but it would still take time to completely reverse this difficult situation.
"Many issues are not within our functional scope and require coordination with other main departments. On July 21, under the leadership of the Wucheng District Branch of the Jinhua City Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, we held a 'Coordination Meeting for the Rectification of the Square in Front of the Station' where multiple departments discussed the environmental rectification around the railway station."
Yan Yaping said that although the specific plan still needs time to finalize, it is a good start.
Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau: Big Moves Coming Up
According to Wu Hexing, director of the office of the Wucheng District Branch of the Jinhua City Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, several consensuses were reached during the "Station Square Rectification Coordination Meeting" on July 21st. "The theme of the meeting was clear: to address a series of problems, including taxi operations, that have disturbed the order of the station square."
Wu Hexing said that relevant departments had already installed some signposts and guiding signs to分流passenger flow and remind travelers of the correct boarding area to avoid being besieged by illegal vehicles.
"Secondly, we plan to build a taxi waiting area, preliminarily located on the vacant land in front of the post office. This project has already been submitted to the relevant municipal government departments for approval," said Wu Hexing. Once the waiting area is built, the current chaotic passenger recruitment, price gouging, and refusal to carry passengers will significantly improve.
In addition, coordinated actions by administrative law enforcement, industry and commerce, public security, and transport management departments will also be carried out to address illegal operations at the station square.
Transportation Management Office: Strict Investigation of Citizen Complaints
"The various problems existing at the West Railway Station have a long history, and we have done a lot of work. However, solving this difficult problem requires all relevant departments to work together and jointly rectify the situation."
A relevant person in charge of the Taxi Management Office of the Jinhua Road Transport Management Office stated that as the management department of the Jinhua taxi industry, they will carry out work from aspects such as improving management mechanisms, strengthening supervision and inspection, and increasing the intensity of investigations.
"We welcome citizens to file complaints in a timely manner and actively provide evidence. For complaints regarding operational violations, we will conduct strict investigations and pursue them thoroughly." The person in charge believed that citizens should have rights protection awareness and assist the management department in investigating illegal activities.
Transport Company: Difficulties in Increasing Shuttle Services
The operating unit of Jinhua West Bus Station is Zhejiang Tongji Transportation Co., Ltd.
Mentioning the unreasonable setting of public transportation, which "forces" citizens to take black cars, a staff member of Tongji Company helplessly said: "This is a long-standing problem."
He indicated that in 2004, the East Bus Station opened shuttle services to Lanxi, passing through the West Bus Station, with passenger pick-ups at the West Station, six shuttles per day. The first bus departs at 7:20 AM, and the last bus departs at 4:50 PM.
However, the problem of citizens having difficulty boarding buses has still not been fundamentally solved. Why doesn't the West Bus Station increase the number of shuttles to Lanxi?
"Increasing the number of shuttles requires administrative approval from relevant departments," said the Tongji Company. They had also applied to relevant departments before, but overall, there are already 24 vehicles running daily between Jinhua and Lanxi, indicating an oversupply of transport capacity.