Are taxi rides in Beijing cheap?

World
Europe

‍We’ve all been there before: sitting in a taxi and the meter rolling faster than the blink of an eye.

You may have ridden cabs in various cities around the world, but which is the cheapest and which is the costliest?

New York taxi /Photo via Carspring.co.uk

Beijing came in at the eighth in terms of its taxi fare – 2.3 yuan (0.34 US dollars) per kilometer – according to the 2017 Taxi Price Index recently published by Carspring, an online car dealer based in Britain.

The index measured the cost of cabs in 80 of the world’s most popular tourist cities based on three metrics: The cost per kilometer, the cost of waiting time, and the fare from the airport to the city center.

Cairo and Zurich

Egyptian capital Cairo was the cheapest for cab-hailers with only 0.1 US dollars per kilometer, followed by Bangkok (0.18 US dollars), Moscow (0.27 US dollars), Mexico City (0.28 US dollars), Jakarta (0.30 US dollars), Bangalore (0.30 US dollars), Mumbai (0.32 US dollars), Beijing (0.34 US dollars), Bucharest (0.35 US dollars) and Kuala Lumpur (0.36 US dollars).

CGTN Photo

Shanghai was ranked 14 at 0.45 US dollars per kilometer.

Zurich, Switzerland took home the most expensive city title with 5.19 US dollars per kilometer. Tokyo was the only Asian city in the top 10 costliest cities while the rest were in Europe, including Geneva, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, Cologne, Copenhagen, Stuttgart, and Antwerp.

CGTN Photo

While Cairo continued to top the cheapest cities with the lowest price from airport to city center – 4.2 US dollars, Beijing dropped significantly to the 19th place with 17.33 US dollars, which is more expensive than Dubai (8.31 US dollars) and Lisbon, Portugal (16.46 US dollars).

For a typical 3-km ride, Beijing was at 15th (3.08 US dollars) while Cairo once again the cheapest with .50 US dollars.

Harsh Criticism

The ranking incited harsh criticism on Chinese social media with many questioning the methodology.

@shawn9981 asked, “Does the ranking take income level and purchasing power into consideration?” @xiaoxiao_458 backed the idea, saying “To assess the prices with income level ruled out is no difference to hooliganism. Ever heard of the method of variate control?”

Weibo screenshot

“They earn Swiss Franc. What is the meaning that you compare with the RMB?” asked @longmaoerduo18.

However, there were also voices recognizing the ranking. “Taxis in the Chinese mainland are cheap enough. You’d know that once you’ve traveled abroad. The cab fares in neighboring places like Japan and Hong Kong are so expensive, let alone the Europe and the US,” said @Kdaqintian.

Weibo screenshot

“The ranking makes sense. Taking a cab in Tokyo cost me around 600 RMB for a little more than 20 kilometers,” @qiaositeluofusimai said.

4km