Taxis of Vietnam
Taxis in Vietnam are part of a complex transportation and economic system within the country. Taxicabs are one facet of a diverse 'vehicle for hire' ecosystem in Vietnam.
History
=1880-1940: Introduction of Vehicles for Hire=
H. Hazel Hanh, in their 2013 "Journal of Vietnam Studies" article, described the introduction of the rickshaw (xe-kéo, or "pulling vehicle") from Japan to Vietnam in 1883. In its early years, its main customer base was among European colonizers within then-French Indochina, with a small number of French firms holding a quasi-monopoly on both manufacturing and circulation. After the proliferation of public cycle rickshaws (xích lô, from cyclo) and rampant rickshaw taxes forced reform and regulation in the 1910s, Vietnamese residents became a more significant portion of the customer base and began to regularly use the vehicle-for-hire service for daily urban life.{{Cite journal|last=Hahn|first=H. Hazel|date=2013-11-01|title=The Rickshaw Trade in Colonial Vietnam, 1883–1940|url=https://online.ucpress.edu/jvs/article/8/4/47/46281/The-Rickshaw-Trade-in-Colonial-Vietnam-1883-1940|journal=Journal of Vietnamese Studies|language=en|volume=8|issue=4|pages=47–85|doi=10.1525/vs.2014.8.4.47|issn=1559-372X|url-access=subscription}}
=1950-1990: Xe ôm and Xe Lam=
With an increasing presence of American citizens and their imported motorbikes in the 1960s, the demand rose for motorbikes comfortable enough for two,{{Cite web|url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/the-fascinating-history-of-xe-om-motorbike-taxis-in-saigon-59378.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160221190903/http://www.thanhniennews.com/travel/the-fascinating-history-of-xe-om-motorbike-taxis-in-saigon-59378.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 21, 2016|title=The fascinating history of 'xe om' motorbike taxis in Saigon|date=February 19, 2016|website=Thanh Nien Daily}} especially Italian and Japanese models.{{Cite web|url=https://www.citypassguide.com/blog/from-mobylettes-to-hondas-the-history-of-motorcycles-in-vietnam|title=City Pass Guide|first=City Pass|last=Guide|website=From Mobylettes to Hondas: The History of Motorcycles in Vietnam}} The increasing availability of these vehicles and the demand for more nimble vehicles for hire led to the Xe ôm motorcycle taxi services ('hug car, referring to the passenger holding onto the driver).
In the late 1970s, the auto rickshaw became more popular vehicles for hire to transport customers and goods, including the xe lam (also known as "Lambro" from the original manufacturer's name, a three wheeler with the driver at front), the xe loi (a motorbike with an open trailer attached), and the xe ba gác ({{lit|motor tricycle}}; a three wheel with the driver at back). However, the vehicles and their drivers were heavily regulated at the turn of the century with the vehicles becoming outright banned by 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/hanoi-wants-to-bring-back-tuktuks-after-eliminating-them-5355.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205115537/http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/hanoi-wants-to-bring-back-tuktuks-after-eliminating-them-5355.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 5, 2020|title=Hanoi wants to bring back tuk-tuks after eliminating them|date=September 14, 2012|website=Thanh Nien Daily}}
=1990-Present: The Rise of Four Wheels=
In an effort towards localization of auto manufacturing in the 1990s, a slew of joint ventures with foreign manufacturers allowed for the modern assembly of four-wheel automobiles in Vietnam, significantly lowering the dependency on imports and subsequently lowering the prices of cars.{{Cite CiteSeerX|citeseerx=10.1.1.627.6560|title=Working Paper Series Industrial Policy as Determinant of Localization: The Case of Vietnamese Automobile Industry|year=2008}} With significant infrastructure development in the 2000s,{{cite book|author1=Giang Dang|author2=Low Sui Pheng|title=Infrastructure Investments in Developing Economies: The Case of Vietnam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o6DcBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA109|date=18 October 2014|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-981-287-248-7|page=109}} motorbikes banned from expressways,{{cite web|url=https://tuoitrenews.vn/society/26332/motorbikes-entering-expressway-in-vietnam-could-be-confiscated|title=Motorbikes entering expressways in Vietnam could be confiscated|date=27 February 2015|publisher=Tuoi Tre News}} and the xich lo becoming banned from most streets of Vietnam's major cities,{{cite web | author=Theo Hiệp Bình Công an nhân dân | title=Hà Nội sẽ cấm xích lô, dừng hoạt động xe ba bánh | website=Tin tức 24h | date=November 29, 2019 | url=https://www.24h.com.vn/tin-tuc-trong-ngay/ha-noi-se-cam-xich-lo-dung-hoat-dong-xe-ba-banh-c46a1104000.html | language=vi | access-date=November 28, 2021}} taxicab services became viable. Air-conditioned, metered taxicabs were a contrast to the lower priced, but informal services offered by the xe om motorbike and the xích lô rickshaw taxi drivers, and the burgeoning middle class of Vietnam was looking to use its disposable income{{Cite web|url=https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/business/160959/middle-class-vietnamese--who-are-they-.html|title=Middle-class Vietnamese: Who are they? - News VietNamNet}} While riding a taxi was once an elusive a status symbol for many, car ownership has become an increasingly attainable status symbol for others.{{cite web | title=Will the public use metro systems in Vietnam when they're ready to depart? | website=VnExpress International – Latest news, business, travel and analysis from Vietnam | date=November 14, 2017 | url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/perspectives/will-the-public-use-metro-systems-in-vietnam-when-they-re-ready-to-depart-3669916.html | access-date=November 28, 2021}}
With Urban Rail Transit projects being continuously delayed in the cities,{{cite web | title=Vietnam urban rail projects fall years late as payments lag - Nikkei Asia | website=Nikkei Asia | date=October 6, 2021 | url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Transportation/Vietnam-urban-rail-projects-fall-years-late-as-payments-lag | access-date=November 28, 2021}} residents continue to access an array of transportation options, including buses, private vehicles, taxicabs, motorbike taxis {{Cite journal|doi=10.1088/1757-899x/832/1/012070|s2cid=225737741|title=Taxi transport characteristics in Vietnam |year=2020 |last1=Thai |first1=Huy Truong |last2=Rementsov |first2=Andrey |last3=Nguyen |first3=Khac Minh |last4=Le |first4=Anhtuan |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |volume=832 |issue=1 |page=012070 |bibcode=2020MS&E..832a2070T |doi-access=free }}
Economy
=Price and regulation=
Taxi companies that refuse to adjust fares to market circumstances, such as drops in the price of fuel, have been cautioned with fined by authorities.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/ho-chi-minh-city-taxi-firms-cut-prices-slightly-58042.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117053036/http://www.thanhniennews.com/society/ho-chi-minh-city-taxi-firms-cut-prices-slightly-58042.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 17, 2021|title=Ho Chi Minh City taxi firms cut prices slightly|date=January 12, 2016|website=Thanh Nien Daily}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/vietnamese-taxi-firms-announce-lower-fares-as-fuel-prices-plummet-59545.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421134850/http://www.thanhniennews.com/business/vietnamese-taxi-firms-announce-lower-fares-as-fuel-prices-plummet-59545.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 21, 2016|title=Vietnamese taxi firms announce lower fares as fuel prices plummet|date=February 23, 2016|website=Thanh Nien Daily}} In 2019, Vietnam was listed as one of ten countries with the cheapest taxi fares.{{cite web | last=Quy | first=Nguyen | title=Vietnam taxi fares among cheapest in the world | website=VnExpress International – Latest news, business, travel and analysis from Vietnam | date=August 12, 2019 | url=https://e.vnexpress.net/news/travel/vietnam-taxi-fares-among-cheapest-in-the-world-3966014.html | access-date=November 28, 2021}}
Vinasun and Grabcar have been involved in legal disputes on whether ride sharing apps should be regulated as taxi companies as well as technology companies.{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/grab-vinasun-trial-idUSL3N1ZC04F|title=Grab appeals Vietnamese court ruling in taxi company dispute|newspaper=Reuters|date=January 12, 2019|via=www.reuters.com}} In 2020, a policy was announced that cars providing paid rides, regardless if app-based or not, would have to switched to yellow license plate to declare their status as a 'commissioned' car.{{cite web | last=Sơn | first=Thái | title=Grab, Be, FastGo, taxi, xe tải… sẽ dùng biển số màu vàng | website=Báo Thanh Niên | date=July 8, 2020 | url=https://thanhnien.vn/post-972426.html | language=vi | access-date=November 28, 2021}}
In Popular Culture
In media, taxi driver characters have been used to capture Vietnam's cultural changes, often as a remark on economic disparities between rider and driver.{{cite journal | last=Barnes | first=Leslie | title=Cinema as Cultural Translation: The Production of Vietnam in Trẩn Anh Hùùng's Cyclo | journal=Journal of Vietnamese Studies | publisher=University of California Press | volume=5 | issue=3 | year=2010 | issn=1559-372X | doi=10.1525/vs.2010.5.3.106 | pages=106–128}}
In the 1995 film Cyclo, Lê Văn Lộc stars as the cyclo rickshaw driver protagonist.{{cite web | title=Movie Reviews | website=The New York Times | date=October 12, 1995 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CE3DA1330F931A25753C1A963958260 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910215801/https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=990CE3DA1330F931A25753C1A963958260 | access-date=November 28, 2021| archive-date=2014-09-10 }} In the 1999 film Three Seasons stars Don Duong as the cyclo rickshaw driver protagonist.{{cite web | last=Ebert | first=Roger | title=Three Seasons movie review & film summary (1999) |website=rogerebert.com/ | date=May 28, 1999 | url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/three-seasons-1999 | access-date=November 28, 2021}}
The 2004 song Taxi by Vietnamese pop group H.A.T. includes them singing to a taxi driver.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lyriccuatui.com/taxi-loi-bai-hat-h-a-t/|title=Taxi Loi bai hat - H.A.T|date=11 October 2018}}
The 2009 film Adrift includes Nguyen Duy Khoa as a taxi driver main character.{{cite web|url=http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/adrift |title=Adrift - Choi voi |publisher=Toronto International Film Festival official website |accessdate=2009-11-10 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091016201755/http://www.tiff.net/filmsandschedules/films/adrift |archivedate=16 October 2009 |url-status=dead }} The 2016 film Taxi, What's Your Name stars Angela Phuong Trinh as the taxicab driver protagonist and Truong Giang as her passenger.{{cite web | title='Taxi, em tên gì?' thu 21 tỷ đồng sau 5 ngày công chiếu | website=ZingNews.vn | date=March 9, 2016 | url=https://zingnews.vn/zingnews-post632442.html | language=vi | access-date=November 28, 2021}}