THREE pricing proposals for taxis were made public by the city’s development and reform commission Wednesday, setting the same charging standards for green cabs and red cabs, the Shenzhen Economic Daily reported Thursday.

    Currently, green cabs are only allowed to operate in Longgang, Bao’an and four new areas outside of the former Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ), and fares for green cabs are lower than red cabs, which are allowed to operate anywhere in Shenzhen.

    The commission’s spokesperson said that green taxis in Shenzhen have the lowest fares compared with taxis in other first-tier cities and cities in the Pearl River Delta region. The green cabs’ waiting fees are also low even though traffic congestion in the city slows down vehicles on the road.

    The spokesperson said that green cabbies are reluctant to pick up passengers for cross-region rides because of the low long-distance fares. Meanwhile, different charging standards for green cabs make it difficult for their drivers to maintain a reasonable income.

    The three pricing proposals will raise the fares of green cabs by between 17.24 and 21 percent, while incomes for each taxi will grow by between 4,418 yuan and 5,383 yuan. For passengers, the initial fare for each ride will increase by between 3.33 yuan and 4.05 yuan, and the monthly wages of green cabbies will be above 5,000 yuan.

    If any of the three pricing proposals were put into practice, the new charging standards would equally apply to red, green and electric taxies in the city, according to the report.

    A dynamic regulating system will be set up to adjust charging standards for taxis based on the change of statistical indexes related to taxis’ operation costs.

    The city’s development and reform commission and the transport commission will continue collecting public opinions on the pricing proposals before a public hearing is held Dec. 23. (Zhang Yang)