Han Ximin

    ximhan@126.com

    TRAVELERS arriving at the Shenzhen airport can follow signs to the Ground Traffic Center (GTC) in order to use app-based cab services at the station that was officially put into operation Friday.

    Passengers can get to the station’s Pick Up area, which offers 24 parking spaces for cabs, by exiting Gate 15 of the GTC. The station also includes 65 parking spaces in the Reserve Area inside the No. 3 Parking Lot where cabs can wait for passengers for free for a maximum of 15 minutes.

    “To use the station, app-based cabbies can drive to the Reserve Area to get orders from app-based cab operators and then drive to the Pick Up area for passengers,” said Liu Xiaoding, deputy chief of the city’s traffic police bureau, adding that the use of the station will ensure smooth traffic at the departure hall, which has been plagued by app-based cars picking up passengers.

    Private cars and traditional cabs won’t be allowed to enter the station to pick up passengers.

    When app-based cab drivers pick up passengers on the passageway, they are required to drive off within five minutes, otherwise they will be fined 300 yuan (US$44) and have three penalty points added to their driver’s license.

    Punishments will be imposed starting Feb. 1 after a nearly two-week grace period.

    The station is the first of its kind at an airport in China.

    Statistics from Didi showed that the app-based cab operator received about 8,800 orders for airport passengers a day, accounting for 18 percent of the total passengers using ground traffic at the airport.

    According to an agreement signed between Didi and the Shenzhen airport authority Friday, the two parties will establish a regular communication mechanism to share information and supplement the shortage of cabs in the wee hours by using artificial intelligence and big data technologies.

    “Operating a station for app-based cabs is a good way to satisfy the needs of riders and show the openness and inclusiveness of Shenzhen,” Wang Xue, director of the transportation research center at Shenzhen Polytechnic, said in an interview.

    Guangzhou Baiyun Airport also added an app-based cab service to its overall transportation plan. It designated two parking areas in Parking Lot 4, with 150 and 20 parking spaces respectively, for app-based cabs with 20 minutes of free parking.