Taxi Drivers in Tokyo

Despite the perfect public transportation taxis seem to be ubiquitous in Tokyo. Fares are high and pay is low.

In the last survey of 2010 there were around 400.000 taxi drivers in Japan with an average age of 56,8 years. The average number of years on the pay role of companies (only 10 % have their own business) was 56.8 years.

This indicates, that many started driving later in life, after they worked somewhere else and lost their jobs. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper published the profile of a taxi driver, who has been driving since 2009, when he was laid off by a small company. The taxi company he works for has a sales quota. Each driver has to bring in 480.000 Yen (4.800 USD) in fares a month. If the driver makes more than that, he gets to keep 53 % as his commission. If he makes less, he only keeps 40 %. The driver says he needs to make 250.000 Yen a month to survive, so he needs to bring in 40.000 Yen per shift.

According to the Japan Federation of Hire-Taxi Association the average working hour for a driver is 193 a month, the average for all jobs 183. The average annual salary for a driver in 2011 was 2,9 Mio Yen (29.000 USD), the average for all industries was 5,26 Mio Yen.

The salaries have been declining since the two decades. In 1994 the average yearly earnings were around 4.Mio Yen. The main factor for this downturn are a deregulation in 2002 which added annually 15.000 cabs to the competition. The government re-regulated the industry in attempt to cut the number of cabs especially in the cities. Since then salaries stagnate at the mentioned low level.

To take a cab in Tokyo will cost you a basic fare of 730 Yen for the first 3 kilometers. What you get is a perfectly clean cab with white clothing on seat. The back door opens automatically on the left. The driver will only get off to help you with luggage.
If I review the pictures taken for this post, there are basically three aspects of the daily life of a taxi driver in Tokyo I would identify. The first you see already in the previous pictures. It is the constant looking for customers while driving are the waiting periods on various taxi stands. The second is the process of taking a customer on board.

Even in the smallest street you just step out of the shop, wave your hand and you can be sure not to wait more than few minutes before a empty cab passes by.

To have the service of helping you into the car as in the picture above is due to the fact, that the back door only opens on the left side by a lever the driver handles from inside. To leave opening the door up to the customer seemed in this case to be not polite. In the regular situation door and trunk are just open for self service.

Once you are in off you go and the next act is paying once you reach your destination. Until then the ride is smooth and silent, no lively discussions with the driver once you told him the address. Of course he will respond to any question you might have.

Out of the 400.000 drivers in 2010 7.700 were women. Here is an area where the so called “womennomics” of the Abe government (increase the quota of women in the work force) can be tested. I spotted one of them.

And finally, using a cab seems to be sometimes the appropriate means of transportation on the happiest day of your life.

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