Research On Urban Passenger Taxi Subsidy Based On Fuel Price Changes

Urban passenger taxi is an important part of the urban public transport system.Fuel consumption cost is an important part of the urban passenger taxi operationcost, which is be directly affected by fuel price changes. Government financialsubsidy for taxi operators is an important measure to cope with the impact of fuelprice changes on the taxi industry. In the context of fuel price changes, research onurban passenger taxi subsidies has its theoretical and practical significance tobalance different stakeholders’ interests of the taxi industry and to ensure the taxiindustry stability.This paper summarizes the theoretical basis and methods of urban passengertaxi pricing, influencing factors in urban passenger taxi price and price structure ofurban passenger taxi. Based on the introduction of fuel price changes, the necessityof urban passenger taxi subsidy is proposed. And then, domestic urban passengertaxi subsidy status and problems are analyzed.The taxi market demand model and taxi operation profit model arerespectively presented. On this basis, three programs of taxi subsidy based on fuelprice changes are proposed, including the subsidy program based on reasonableprofit level, the subsidy program based on fuel price change rate and the subsidyprogram based on the sharing rate of fuel price changes in pressure. And then thethree programs are compared. Then under the premise of the definitive subsidystandard, the operator’s business strategies are analyzed. In addition, in order totake account of the interests of both government and the operator, a bi-levelprogramming model of the taxi subsidy is established, with the Stackelberg gametheory.Finally，regarding the passenger taxi in Harbin City as a typical case, thispaper applies the theoretical models and methods mentioned above, to study theamount of subsidy for urban passenger taxi when the fuel price changes. Theamount of government subsidies are respectively calculated under the threeprograms, and the operator’s business strategies are analyzed under the premise ofthe definitive subsidy standard. The bi-level programming model establishedabove is used to obtain the optimal taxi subsidy standard in Harbin.