Average taxi income rises: survey

• By Wu Liang-yi and Jake Chung / Staff reporters, with staff writer

• • Add TT as Preferred Source

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications’ (MOTC) latest Taxi Business Survey showed that full-time taxi drivers’ average monthly net income rose 20.4 percent last year to NT$32,465, while multi-purpose taxis expanded to 40 percent of the nation’s taxi fleet.

The survey showed that full-time taxi drivers earned an average monthly gross income of NT$55,788, up NT$7,022, or 14.4 percent, from 2023. After deducting operating expenses, their average monthly net income was NT$32,465, an increase of NT$5,508, or 20.4 percent.

More than 76 percent of full-time taxi drivers, defined as those whose principal source of income is operating a taxi, were affiliated with taxi dispatch fleets, up 7.4 percentage points from the previous survey.

A woman enters a taxi at Taipei Railway Station in an undated photograph.

Photo: CNA

Nearly 80 percent of taxi rides were arranged through online booking platforms, radio or satellite dispatch services, while the proportion of drivers picking up passengers by cruising the streets fell to 40 percent for the first time, reflecting a shift toward digital operations in the industry.

Full-time drivers who worked at least eight hours a day earned an average monthly gross income of NT$62,822 and net income of NT$37,403, NT$7,034 and NT$4,938 more respectively than the average for all full-time taxi drivers.

Multi-purpose taxi drivers took more days off on average than other full-time drivers, but made more trips and drove longer distances on days they worked. Their average monthly gross income was NT$59,528, higher than the average for all full-time taxi drivers.

The MOTC conducts the survey every two years. From March to June, it sampled taxi operators active at the end of last year and received 9,861 valid responses, a response rate of 33 percent.

Taiwan had 92,768 taxis at the end of last year, up 1,114, or about 1.2 percent, from the previous survey. Of those, 36,023 were multi-purpose taxis, accounting for nearly 40 percent of the fleet, the survey showed.

The ministry also released the results of its Tour Bus Business Survey, which found the industry had contracted slightly as operators diversified their services. Labor shortages among companies specializing in shuttle services and tourism had eased, while overall revenue had recovered to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Tour bus drivers earned an average monthly salary of NT$48,000 last year, up NT$3,686, or 8.3 percent, from the previous survey.