Ministry of Transport: Suspend ride-hailing in high-risk areas

A few days ago, the Ministry of Transport issued a message that in response to the situation of sporadic spread of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in China and a local cluster of epidemic outbreaks, the Ministry of Transport issued the “Regarding Further Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Transport Epidemics in High-risk Area The Emergency Notice for Work (Jiaoyun Mingdian [2021] No. 15) (referred to as the 'Notice') requires transportation departments in all regions, especially those in medium- and high-risk areas, to pay close attention to the epidemic prevention and control situation, and effectively strengthen prevention and control measures. Strictly prevent the spread of the epidemic through transportation links.

The 'Notice' requires that the control of passenger transportation in and out of medium- and high-risk areas should be strengthened. In principle, all regions shall suspend inter-provincial and inter-city road passenger transportation and inter-city public transportation in and out of the county-level administrative regions where the medium- and high-risk areas are located. Passenger lines passing through the county-level administrative area where the medium-high-risk area is located must strictly implement 'point-to-point' transportation, and passengers are not allowed to pick up and drop off passengers in the county-level administrative area where the medium-high-risk area is located. It is necessary to strictly manage the filing management of inter-provincial and inter-city chartered vehicles, and suspend the acceptance of the filing business of chartered vehicles in the county-level administrative regions where the medium- and high-risk areas are located. In principle, cities with medium- and high-risk areas should suspend the cross-city business of taxis (including online ride-hailing, the same below), ride-hailing services, and intra-city carpooling services. Where the local leading agency for epidemic prevention and control decides to expand the scope of the suspension according to the needs of epidemic prevention and control, it shall be implemented in accordance with the relevant local deployment. If the service is suspended due to the epidemic, it is necessary to instruct passenger transport operators to provide free refund services for relevant passengers. Where urban public transportation and taxi operations are suspended locally, it is necessary to ensure the travel needs of key groups such as medical staff, and provide transportation services such as emergency supplies for epidemic prevention and the people's daily necessities.

The 'Notice' emphasizes the need to further strengthen normalized epidemic prevention and control. All localities must urge passenger transport operators to further strictly implement the disinfection and ventilation frequency of passenger terminals and transportation vehicles in accordance with the requirements of the State Council’s joint prevention and control mechanism on winter and spring epidemic prevention and control deployment and the latest version of the prevention and control guidelines, and strictly implement passenger temperature measurement and health inspections. Code, protection and health monitoring of practitioners, masks worn by passengers and handover of feverish persons, etc., combined with the unified deployment of epidemic prevention and control during the Spring Festival Transport, improve the prevention and control standards of transportation epidemics, and resolutely prevent the spread of epidemics through transportation. It is necessary to supervise and guide passenger transport operators to implement real-name management in accordance with regulations, and actively cooperate with relevant departments to carry out flow adjustment work. We must do a good job in propaganda, guide the people to reduce unnecessary trips, and reduce the risks on the road. Supervise and guide passenger transport operators to establish and improve services such as health code handling by relatives and friends, and staff checking on behalf of the staff, and the health code must not be used as the only pass for personnel.

The 'Notice' clearly stated that transportation services should be resumed in due course. After the medium-high-risk areas are reduced to low-risk areas, local transportation departments must resume transportation services in a stable and orderly manner, and announce them to the public in a timely manner. Before resuming operations, it is necessary to urge passenger transport operators to do a good job in safety management such as driver training and vehicle maintenance, guide the improvement of epidemic prevention and control measures, and ensure operational safety.