Mobile taxi cops to make cab-riding safer

Seoul city government will introduce a "mobile taxi cop service" to ensure safer cab-riding, an official said yesterday.

Each taxi will have a specific bar code inside and outside of the cab that the mobile phone can recognize, and by placing the phone on the bar code, the cab information will be stored into the mobile phone so that passengers can text-message it to their friends or family.

"Efforts are being made in light of an increasing number of crimes related to taxis, to ensure safer cab-riding," the city government official said.

The service is still in its planning stage and concrete details are scheduled to be announced in November. The service may be available early next year, the official said.

(jkwon@heraldm.com)