Yangon Region Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein has announced that his government will seek to reduce the number of taxis in Myanmar’s largest city and convert unnecessary cabs into private cars, reported Eleven.
“Official taxis have license plates beginning with AA, BB, and so on. The rest are private cars. Depending on city requirements and the number of passengers who usually take taxis, we will coordinate and balance the situation. Some taxis will be changed into private cars if they are deemed unnecessary,” said the chief minister.
He said authorities are collecting data on city taxis now, though this is complicated by the fact that many taxis in Yangon have been registered outside Yangon Region, and some are not licensed at all.
The chief minister said the number of cabs in the city should be high enough to ensure that competition keeps fares low but low enough to minimize congestion.
He also said his government has discussed introducing Uber to the city, following the example of other Southeast Asian cities.
“We have met with the Southeast Asian [section of] Uber [Technologies Inc.] and learned that since we do not have a systematic taxi association, unlike other countries whose taxi associations protested against [the introduction of Uber], we have a chance to introduce Uber into Myanmar,” said the chief minister, according to Eleven.
The Yangon Region government is on a mission to improve transportation in the city. A new system of over 60 public bus routes launched in Yangon today.
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