The picture shows the "no traffic" sign for taxis located on the busy road section of the city. Photo by our reporter Cao Tianjian
"I really can’t figure it out. In such a busy road section, which is close to the main road of the city, taxis are not allowed to pass. What is the basis for the relevant departments to make this regulation?"
On February 25, Mr. Xie, who was out of town in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, told reporters about his "experience": he took a taxi from the train station to a unit on Qingyuan Street in the city. When the car reached an intersection less than one kilometer away from his destination, the taxi driver pulled over. He was told that the street where the unit he was going was closed to taxis, and that to reach his destination by car, he had to bypass multiple traffic lights. Helplessly, he had to carry a large bag and a small bag through the streets of Ma Long, the traffic water.
Xie later learned that because the city’s municipal party committee was on this street, the relevant departments stipulated that taxis were prohibited from passing in front of the municipal party committee from 7 am to 8 pm.
To "verify" Mr. Xie’s claim, the reporter immediately took a taxi to the prohibited section of the road – the intersection of Zhongshan Road and Qingyuan Street. Sure enough, on the traffic sign pole on the north side of the intersection, the sign that taxis are prohibited from 7 am to 8 pm was in sight.
The common people question whether the establishment of "forbidden roads" is justified by law
According to the reporter, in this section of the north-south length of about seven or eight hundred meters of the taxi prohibited road, in addition to a number of government agencies and units, there are thousands of residents living adjacent to the municipal government office building.
In fact, local citizens and taxi operators have long expressed dissatisfaction with the establishment of "forbidden roads" for taxis in the prosperous areas of the urban area, and some people have even raised the issue that the establishment of "forbidden roads" on the road sections that citizens must travel through every day is undoubtedly a public matter closely related to people’s lives. Have the relevant government departments listened to the opinions of the citizens and considered the public interest when making this decision? Is it legal to set up "forbidden roads", and what procedures have been passed?
Mr. Zhou of Shijiazhuang Yintai Taxi Company has his own views on the issue of setting up "forbidden roads". He believes that since the owner or driver has the qualification to operate or drive a taxi and pays the corresponding fees to the relevant management department, he has obtained the right to drive on the road according to law. Unless temporary traffic control is implemented due to special circumstances such as important activities, his "right of way" should not be unreasonably restricted.
According to the relevant regulations, the administrative authority with the power to set up the "no-go" sign should be the public security traffic management department. An unnamed police officer of the city’s public security traffic management bureau made it clear to reporters that the "no-go" road section had been set up for several years and was set up according to a notice from the municipal public security bureau at that time.
The police officer was not shy about whether the reporter’s suggestion of a "no-go" on this section of the road was as reflected by the public, which was more concerned with the location of the municipal party committee. He said that "there must be this factor".
The reporter checked the relevant information and showed that in the "Notice on Strengthening Urban Road Traffic Management" issued by the Municipal Public Security Bureau and implemented on June 10, 2005, there are indeed regulations prohibiting taxis from passing through Qingyuan Street (Zhongshan Road to Tan Nan Road). However, on January 17, 2008, the "Interim Measures for the Administration of Urban Road Traffic Order in Shijiazhuang City" issued by the General Office of the Municipal People’s Government (Shi Zheng Ban Fa [2008] No. 9), there are no relevant regulations on the prohibition of taxis.
Academic Voice: Not only infringement, but also restriction of public resources
Regarding the issue of "banning" taxis in front of the municipal party committee, Li Zhenkai, a professor at the Department of Law and Economics of Hebei Youth Management Cadre College, believes that unless in special circumstances, the relevant administrative departments need to take temporary traffic control measures to ensure the smooth flow of roads, there is no legal provision prohibiting vehicles that meet the operating conditions or meet the corresponding specifications from driving on public roads. First, there is no legal basis for restricting taxis from passing on a certain road, which is an infringement of the personal management rights of taxi operators. Second, the taxi industry uses road resources for survival, and the use of administrative power to "prohibit" taxis from passing through obviously restricts the use of public resources. Third, from the perspective of citizens, which road to take in a taxi and when to go are the rights of citizens. Setting a "ban" on taxis, forcing passengers to detour, thereby increasing unnecessary expenses, is a waste for citizens, and the government does not compensate accordingly, which is a violation of citizens’ rights. At the same time, setting a "ban" on taxis is also unfair to citizens who need to go to the municipal party committee and other departments on the "forbidden road" to handle various matters, but they do not have a car and have no access to official vehicles.
Li Zhenkai said that the main feature of the market economy is to require the rational allocation and fair distribution of resources, and to use administrative power to artificially "cut off a piece" of public resources, which obviously deprives the rights of the counterparts of administrative actions. (Our reporter, Atletico Madrid, Cao Tianjian)
Editor in charge: Zhao Deli