Starting Next Year, Personal Taxi Operation Allowed Without Taxi Experience

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] Starting next year, individuals will be able to operate private taxis after receiving training, even without prior driving experience with commercial vehicles.

The Korea Transportation Safety Authority announced on the 15th that from next year, it will be possible to transfer private taxi licenses by completing the "Private Taxi License Transfer Requirements Traffic Safety Education" conducted by the Authority, even without prior commercial vehicle driving experience.

Currently, transferring a private taxi license requires at least 5 years of commercial vehicle driving experience and a clean driving record. However, following the amendment of related laws in April, even without commercial vehicle driving experience, individuals with a 5-year clean driving record can transfer private taxi licenses by completing traffic safety education provided by the Korea Transportation Safety Authority.

The traffic safety education for private taxi license transfer is conducted at the Traffic Safety Experience Education Centers located in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi Province, and Sangju-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do. Trainees must complete a total of 40 hours of education, including 30 hours of hands-on training, and achieve an average score of 60 or higher in evaluations within the course to substitute for commercial driving experience. The validity period of the certificate of completion is 3 years from the date of completion.

The first traffic safety education session is scheduled to begin on the 4th of next month, and the Authority will start accepting applications from the 28th of this month. A representative from the Authority stated, "Since most of the education consists of evaluations and practical training, it will be beneficial for the traffic safety of private taxi drivers," and added, "We plan to conduct field-centered education and evaluations to prevent indiscriminate market entry under the relaxed private taxi license transfer requirements."

Chairman Kwon Byung-yoon of the Korea Transportation Safety Authority said, "The implementation of this traffic safety education will contribute to alleviating the aging of private taxi drivers," and added, "It is expected to facilitate the entry of young and middle-aged people into the taxi industry, thereby improving convenience for taxi users."