2020 Volume 6 Issue 2 Pages A_183-A_189
In Japan, which is facing an aging society and a declining population, there is a need for mobility alternatives to owning private cars. Recently, expectations for MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) have increased, and introducing flat-rate services for public transport has attracted attention. However, taxi fares are based on a combination of time and distance, and there is uncertainty in fares even in the same origin-destination. It has different issues from other public transport services. This study estimated frequency of using taxis from the dispatch data of “Mina Taku”service in Minamisoma City, Fukushima Prefecture, which introduces a flat-rate taxi service that limits the days of the week, time of day, and places where passengers can get on and off. In addition, the possibility of improving the frequency of taxi use and increasing revenues of taxi companies by introducing a flat-rate service was shown, and the points to consider when adopting flat-rate taxi services in small provincial cities were clarified.
