Kakao Mobility said on the 26th that it will work to raise the ride success rate to address the year-end and New Year taxi shortage.
The ride success rate is the percentage of passengers who attempt to hail a taxi and actually board and complete the trip. Kakao Mobility plans to boost the taxi ride success rate through a range of measures, including advancing its dispatch technology, improving taxi drivers' operating environment, and opening a beta reservation service for mid-size franchise taxis.
According to Kakao Mobility, the days with the highest number of annual ride-hailing users over the past three years were Dec. 16, 2022, Dec. 17, 2023, and Dec. 21, 2024, all around the third Saturday of the year-end season. The taxi ride success rate that day was 71.3% in 2022, but only 55% at 11 p.m., it said. Likewise, on the same day in 2023, the overall ride success rate was 75%, but it stayed at 60% at 11 p.m., indicating that as late-night hours approached at year-end, alternative transportation options became scarce and it became harder to catch a taxi.
Kakao Mobility will continue to advance taxi dispatch technology through map-matching technology based on big data analysis know-how and Machine Learning methods. It also said it will take the lead in improving taxi drivers' operating environment to partially ease the supply shortage and raise the ride success rate. In particular, to discourage drivers from avoiding late-night shifts due to dealing with intoxicated passengers, it introduced a safety insurance program in 2021, the first of its kind in Korea. The safety insurance provides compensation if crimes causing bodily injury or sexual violence occur during taxi operations, and Kakao Mobility fully covers the premiums.
In fact, through efforts such as technological advancement and improving the operating environment, the taxi ride success rate on Dec. 21, the day with the most taxi hails last year, rose to 83%, showing a significant improvement.
As one of the measures to raise the taxi ride success rate at year-end this year, Kakao Mobility is introducing a beta reservation service for mid-size franchise taxis that allows users to choose a departure time from 10 minutes to up to 1 hour from the current time and book a vehicle in advance. By enabling reservations for travel demand that can suddenly concentrate during peak hours such as late night, the company aims to improve the taxi ride success rate. Separately, regular hailing without a call fee will remain available as before.
An Gyu-jin, vice president of Kakao Mobility's business division, said, "We are preparing various measures—from securing technological capabilities to offering safety insurance and opening a beta reservation service—to help address the year-end and New Year ride shortage," and added, "We will combine the dispatch algorithms and operational know-how accumulated over the past 10-plus years to provide services that satisfy both users and suppliers."