The General Directorate of Traffic stated that a contracting company will begin the process of painting taxi within the next ten days across seven zones in the country.
Abdul Wadood Khairkhwah, the head of Planning and Policy at the General Directorate of Traffic, told TOLOnews that currently more than 20,000 taxis have been painted in four country zones, including 7,000 in Kabul.
According to Khairkhwah, the number of taxis needed for each city has been determined based on the population of each province, with the capital requiring 70,000 taxis.
“In Kabul city, nearly over ten million people reside, our assessment concluded that approximately 70,000 taxis are essential. Previously, we had about 17,000 registered taxis in the capital,” Abdul Wadood Khairkhwah said.
However, some taxi drivers in the capital said that taxis with the new color, in addition to creating order in the transportation service system, also increase public trust.
Barkzai, who converted his personal car into a taxi at a cost of about 25,000 afghani over the past two months, told TOLOnews: “My car was for personal use, I used to work before, and people did not trust personal cars much, but now that I have turned it into a taxi, people’s trust has increased, and business has improved compared to before.”
Yet some other taxi drivers, while noting the improvement with the new taxi color in the country, say they lack the financial capability to change the color of their taxi vehicles.
Abdullah, a taxi driver, said: “I have had this taxi for ten years now. The new taxi color is good, but given that the economy does not help, I cannot afford to paint my car. Without money, painting is difficult.”
According to information from the General Directorate of Traffic, taxis initially operated in the country in black and white.
