While some expats have accepted taxi cab troubles as a way of life in China, other foreigners, alongside the government, are speaking out.

Not long ago, a frightening e-mail circulated among Shanghai’s expat community about one man’s taxi journey. The text went something like this: A Western male teacher arrived at Shanghai’s Hongqiao Airport. He stood in line for a taxi and without incident loaded his bags in the trunk and gave the hotel address to the driver. Just out of view of the line of cabs, though, the car stopped and a Chinese man got in the front passenger seat, turned around, smiled and laughed. Not knowing what to do, and with little to no Mandarin skills, the Westerner sat silently as they continued to the hotel. About two or three blocks away from the final destination, the cabbie pulled over and the mystery man pulled a knife out, telling the passenger that he must pay ¥8,000 if he wished to escape unharmed and with his luggage. Not having that much on him, pleading, threats and bargaining ensued until the Westerner left with his bags and quite a lot less cash.

Nearly everyone, whether he or she is a seasoned China hand or fresh off the boat, can share a taxi horror story. But recent government efforts indicate that major changes are underway to clean up taxi corruption before the Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo. In the meantime though, how can foreigners get from point A to point B without being taken for a ride?

“One time the driver changed the meter before my eyes. He had a button next to the gear shift and kept looking at me after he pressed it. I didn’t say anything until we arrived at the destination and then reached over and pressed the button myself adding another kuai to the meter. I said, ‘You pay the fare!’ and got out of the cab,” recounts Molly Leighton, an American residing in Beijing. Rigging the gauge is no new trick of the taxi driver’s trade, but the maze of buttons and wires, labeled in Chinese, can be a bit perplexing for foreigners.

Often times, a driver might only add one or two yuan to the meter. This may seem like a relatively small amount, but to many cab drivers, adding a few kuai to the fare is deemed necessary to supplement their low monthly salary. “My boss doesn’t care about anything as long as I give him ¥4,000 each month. If I want to take home any money, it’s up to me to put in the hours,” says Beijing taxi driver Cui Xiushan. Drivers can expect to work 12-15 hour days, seven days a week in order to take home just ¥2,500-3,000 a month after paying the taxi company, says Cui.

In order to protect passengers from dishonest and desperate drivers, regulations regarding licensed taxis must be stringent and more supervised, says Zhang Zhouyuan, a representative from the Shanghai Qiangsheng Taxi Co Ltd. A new service started in February in an effort to resolve the long-standing complaints from both airport commuters and cab drivers. In the past, drivers could wait up to eight to 10 hours outside the airport before it was their turn to pick up a fare. And if the passenger lived too close to the airport, producing a fare less than ¥100, many drivers became enraged, yelling at the hapless passenger.

“[To combat this problem] we are now operating special cabs for riders who want to travel less than eight kilometers,” says Zhang. Other measures are being taken to improve the situation at Pudong International Airport where incidences of fraudulent taxi drivers abound. “We are planning a crackdown on those drivers who overcharge or refuse customers. We will send undercover officers to wait in the taxi lines and give fines to those who cheat the customers,” says Liu Wei, an official at Pudong International Airport's dispatch control center for service supervision. In addition to special short-distance cabs and undercover officers, Pudong International Airport now also prohibits taxis from idling outside the airport and refusing pick-ups until after 11 p.m. when their meters jump up by 30 percent.

In the interim, it is imperative that passengers in Beijing and Shanghai be advised on the rules of the meter as well as average prices of a given ride. Driver Cui recalls a time he picked up a foreign couple during their first day in Beijing, “I only took them about 3.5 kilometers. The fare read ¥11, but the man gave me ¥110! He didn’t know how to read the meter. I said ‘No no no!’ and gave him back ¥100.” Maybe karma will reward drivers like Cui with a large fare from the airport during his next go around.

Ham Radios

Among Beijing’s cab drivers exists a group of amateur radio fans who formed the “Ham Radio Community.” Members of Ham Radio can communicate with each other through vehicular radio equipment helping one another cope with life in the boring lane or sometimes saving fellow drivers from potentially dangerous situations. Late night taxi drivers are easy prey for robbers, so Ham members can send a distress call out beckoning other taxis for support. To members of this growing community, Ham Radio can offer a bit of enjoyment during their tedious daily driving routine and also a place they can turn to when in need.