CCTV9英语新闻：Shanghai gives official nod to taxi-hailing apps

Shanghai has launched its online taxi-hailing services platform. The city becomes the first in China to legalize car-hailing smartphone applications via an official public services function. 

 

160 million, that’s the number of people using the two biggest taxi hailing apps in China. The apps have had a huge impact… both on people and on the taxi sector².

 

Grace Yan is a white collar worker based in Shanghai. Using taxi-hailing apps has become part of her daily life.

 

“I’m going to meet my client now. Sometimes I use private car services, sometimes I call a taxi using my app. I think it’s still more convenient and pleasant for me to take a car rather than the subway, especially during rush hour,” she said.

 

But Grace has had a love-hate relationship with taxi-hailing apps.

 

“It’s not always an easy thing to hail a cab. Sometimes during rush hour certain taxis with no passengers won’t stop. And I found it quite annoying when drivers use the app while driving to a destination. It’s not safe,” Grace said.

 

To cope with these concerns, Shanghai launched a service platform merging³ the four largest local taxi companies and the two most popular taxi-hailing apps.

 

"We updated nearly 50,000 drivers’ information. It can help to filter clone taxis and verify their identities," said Zhang Chi, technology director of Shanghai Taxi Service Platform. 

 

"Another highlight is taxi drivers who already have passengers are no longer able to receive messages until the passenger has left the car. This can improve road safety. The light on the taxi will also change from green to red once it's taken."

 

“The platform I think is a good example of cooperation between the government and private companies. We both share our own resources and make it more useful and helpful to both sides as well as to the public," said Wang Xin, vice¹ CEO of Didi Dache.

 

Authorities also plan to unveil a similar plan for private car services in the next few months.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。