With the number of COVID cases creeping back up in China and large numbers expected to travel for Spring Festival over the next month, so a pre-Chinese New Year epidemic prevention effort starts in Nanjing next week. Taxis and ride hailing are first in line.
Those of us who took off our masks in the latter part of last year will probably by now be used to wearing them again. That’s just the start. Beginning next week, all passengers boarding ride-hailing cars and taxis shall be asked prior by the driver to show their green “Sukang Ma” (苏康吗).
The wearing of masks for both driver and passengers will also now again be compulsory. A further onus has been placed on drivers to intensify the disinfection of their vehicle’s interiors, reported Nanjing Daily this morning.
But will they? Nanjing’s taxi drivers are not above flouting the odd rule or two, as The Nanjinger recently revealed a police crackdown on various violations by those in our city on four wheels for a living.
In a new system that should be rolled out in full by the middle of this year, a QR code shall be placed in each car with the intent of cutting down on inappropriate taxi driver behaviour.
Upon scanning the code, passengers will be able to obtain an accurate estimation of the fare for the journey as well as the taxi driver’s name and employer, whether he or she has made an unnecessary detour, and other information. This remains in the passenger’s smartphone for easy reference later should it be required.
Face Recognition Employed to Detect Face Mask Removal
While the overwhelming majority of taxi drivers serving the public in Nanjing wear masks continuously, that there are some who do not has created a marketing opportunity.
Enjoy Road Trip (享道出行), a Shanghai-based, newly-established ride-hailing operator, was keen to point out their latest Unique Selling Point at a press conference held yesterday.
Therein it was revealed that all the company’s cars are equipped with an intelligent recognition system to monitor scenes in the car. Should a driver remove their mask, the system will immediately disable their ride-hailing capability, thus preventing any further rentals. The driver can resume work only after returning to the firm for “education and training”.
In Nanjing, there are at present an average of between 450,000 and 500,000 orders made for a ride-healing service each day. These are served by nine ride-hailing, license-holding companies, that together operate 50,630 vehicles. A total of 84,145 people have obtained a ride-hailing license in our city.
