DevelopmentofOnlineCarHiringandFutureThinking

【Abstract】This paper introduces the origin and development of the online car hiring industry. By analysing the properties of the new industry， the advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The future insight and suggestions are also illustrated to improve the online car hiring services.

【Key words】Online Car Hiring； Development； Future

【作者簡介】李宇星，德陽外國語學校。

Origin and Development of Online Car Hiring

In recent years， with the increasing pace of the city development， a large volume of the population is moving into cities， causing issues on public transport. The infrastructure of the public transport is difficult to match the expansion of the city， leading to the shortage of supply. Since the rapid development on the Internet， the way of travelling is also evolved by the new technologies. Therefore， the online car hiring is developed， which is benefited by the shared economy in the Internet era. The online car hiring relies on the Internet as the medium to mobilize the private vehicle resources in the market. The low-cost feature of the online car hiring makes people having more options for travelling.

In August 2012， the Kuaidi and Didi Taxi App were launched， making it the beginning of the online car hiring era in China. In February 2014， the international company Uber joined the Chinese market. During 2014， the online car hiring companies started to provide private car services on the Internet， which gradually became popular because of the lower price compared to a taxi. In July 2016， regulations were established by national law enforcement， which provides the official definition of the online car hiring service. Till the end of 2016， there are 392 million users in China. The majority of users are based in primary cities， while potential markets are to be explored in secondary cities. The market volume reached 68.1 billion CNY in 2015， while it reaches 267.8 billion in 2018. Estimation shows the volume will reach 503.6 billion in 2022.

Analysis of Advantages and Disadvantages

The development of online car hiring services brings a lot of convenience to peoples livings as well as city development. First， it meets the demand for travelling and provides convenient and good quality services. Second， it generates job opportunities for drivers and increases their salary. Moreover， as a role in the shared economy， the online car hiring services increase the efficiency of vehicle and road resources， which helps to reduce the traffic pressure and reduce the waste of resources.

On the other hand， there are some issues that the business model brings. First of all， the intense competition between online car hiring and the taxi has raised the unsatisfactory in the taxi industry， organised strikes have happened in many cities， causing negative impacts on society. Secondly， the unrestricted administration process is causing more safety concern， such as violent attacks and privacy violations.

Future Development of Online Car Hiring

With the improvement of society and technology， there will be more diversity in peoples living. In the future， the improvement of online car hiring will mainly focus on the improvements in service experience. Improvements such as the route preference， vehicle model selection， fees estimation， communication， rating system shall be included in the customer experience research projects. The service providers shall gather the feedback， and improve the service accordingly.

Because of the rapid development across the nation， the road transport between cities is increasing as well， which brings more opportunities to online car hiring. The industry shall expand to outer cities as well as suburban areas. There shall be a platform for long journeys， providing a platform for appointments.

As for the government regulations， the online car hiring shall be included in the public transport system， making it easier to manage and coordinate. As currently， the public transport is sorted into the following four catalogues， including bus， metro， taxi， and online car hiring. The difference in regulations brings inconvenience to the overall management. On the other hand， law enforcement shall be strengthened to enhance the regulation， such as improve the administration check for new drivers （with three or more years driving experience， no record of traffic crimes， no record of dangerous driving， drug abuse or violent crimes）， protect the safety of customers by technology， and ensure the technical performance of the operating cars are in good condition and equipped with GPS and emergency alarm system.

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