As the taxi expansion has to be approved by the provincial authorities, Suzhou government handed on an application to the provincial government for expanding the taxi service four months earlier on 4 May. The provincial government then forwarded the issue to Jiangsu Transportation Department, Jiangsu Finance Department and Jiangsu Price Bureau, the officials of which came to Suzhou last week with the question "Does Suzhou need more taxies?"

     The moring on 27 August saw pros from Jiangsu Construction Department, Jiangsu Institute of Urban Planning and Design, and Transportaion School of Southeast University get on the busy streets in Suzhou to make a research on the taxi business of the city. They counted every taxi they saw and caculated the proportion that the number of the loaded taxies contrasted with the unloaded.

     Coming back from the road testing, the officials sat for a symposium with the transportaion authorities of Suzhou, argueing on the necessity for Suzhou to expand its taxies service. As the taxi expansion could only be realized after a procedure of brainstorming, plan auditing, and public hearing before it's finally approved, the symposium held on 27 August suggests a big possibility for Suzhou to expand its transit capacity of taxies. 

     Those who made the "taxi-count" at some busy intersections during the rush hours from 8am to 9:15am on 27 August are Zhang