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BEIJING, Aug. 1 -- About 100,000 Beijing taxi drivers will sport a new look from today.

They will be dressed in yellow shirts, dark blue trousers and black-and-yellow striped ties.

"On April 1, the Beijing municipal transportation administration bureau told us to get ready for new uniforms for taxi drivers," Shi Lixin, a manager of Yinjian Taxi Company, told China Daily.

"All drivers received their uniforms before July 15."

Each driver received two pairs of trousers, two shirts and a tie. The uniforms cost the company about 10 million yuan ($1.5 million), about 500 yuan per driver.

Shi said his company regarded serving the Olympics as an honor, but declined to say how it will be able to digest the new cost.

Industry sources said the municipal government will contribute to part of the cost, but this could not be confirmed.

"Every Yinjian driver earns about 36,000 yuan annually for the company. I believe the company having to spend 500 yuan per driver is not very much," Li Ping, a 49-year-old driver, said.

When Beijing raised taxi fares in 2006, some economists complained the profit margin of taxi companies would be as high as 49 percent.

Yinjian drivers face a fine of 200 yuan for each day they fail to wear their uniforms, Shi said.

Drivers with the Tianming and Tianshunshi taxi companies will also be required to wear the new uniforms, but they have yet to decide on fines if they do not.

But the introduction of the new uniforms has not pleased all taxi drivers.

"The material is not 100 percent cotton, it is uncomfortable in the summer," Chen Jianguo, a Tianming taxi driver, said.

However, many Beijing residents think it will improve the image of drivers and the city.


(Source: China Daily)