Taxi drivers to be required to take customer service courses
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/400075
Monday, February 26, 2007 at 11:08 EST
TOKYO — The government decided on Monday to mandate taxi drivers in major cities to take special courses on customer service, safety training and geography exams to improve their performance. The decision follows criticism that some taxi drivers do not know local areas well and do not provide good service, according to ministry officials.
Under the current law, the passing of a geography test is a requirement in parts of Tokyo and Osaka for those wishing to register as taxi drivers. The new law would expand the areas where such tests are required to other cities with the population of 500,000 or more, including Sendai, Yokohama, Nagoya and Fukuoka. There are some 380,000 taxi drivers in Japan, excluding owner-drivers, and 210,000 of them would be required to take the training courses.
They think they have problems with their taxi drivers....