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DiDi Rider: Affordable rides

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Didi’s new travel feature is designed to save you money on long distance fares.

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Ride-share app DiDi has launched new feature DiDi Travel that’ll help you save on long-distance fares. After a successful trial run, as of April 27, the feature’s being rolled out in major Australian cities.

The new feature will be available for trips over 10kms in Sydney and Adelaide, and over 12kms in other major Australian cities. It’s designed to benefit both riders and drivers. Riders will receive a low-cost option for long-distance travel and be able to choose which driver they want to use.

When riders request a DiDi Travel ride, drivers will be able to ‘bid’ on the trip and offer their price, with a starting point base fare set by the app that’s lower than its DiDi Express.

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Drivers will then be able to take into consideration destination information, journey length and fare price. The rider will then get to decide how much they’ll pay based on the bids they get. They’ll also be able to factor in the drivers’ estimated arrival time, star rating and even their car type.

Worth noting, though, is the fact that once the final fare of the DiDi Travel trip is decided on, the rider won’t be able to change the route or destination of their trip.

The service is now available in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. To access it, simply open the DiDi app, enter your destination into the “Where to?” bar and select the “DiDi Travel” option.

DiDi was founded in Beijing, China in 2012 where, backed by influential investors, it grew rapidly, eventually offering private cars, car rentals, buses and chauffeurs, as well as delivery services and even bike-sharing. The app launched in Australia in 2018, with an initial trial in Geelong, Victoria that led to a wider rollout in Melbourne. It’s now available in select cities in NSW, VIC, SA, WA, QLD and ACT.

Related: I Roadtested Uber’s New Travel Feature, and I Think It’s Going to Take Off

Related: Is Uber’s Carshare Better Than a Regular Ol’ Car Rental? I Investigated

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Posted by: rideguru team may 04, 2018 updated jan 16, 2020.

DiDi is the "Uber" of China. Headquartered in Beijing, DiDi has grown to support over 400 cities in China and just recently has also made the move into Mexico. DiDi  provides a wide variety of car types from standard, affordable rides to luxury high-class vehicles. There is even a car pool option if you are looking to save money or if you would rather y ou can also rent a car using DiDi's platform. We have compiled all the DiDi ride options below so you can know what to expect when you hail a car via DiDi.

DiDi Express

DiDi's standard service.

DiDi Express Select

A step up from "Express" but still not considered luxury. You will get a nicer Express car and will pay about 10% more.

DiDi Express Pool

DiDi’s shared ride service. Share an Express ride with others heading in the same direction.

Hail a traditional Taxi cab through the DiDi app.

DiDi Premier

High end, luxury rides with specially trained drivers.

DiDi's real-time public bus option. Buy a seat on the bus and travel one of the pre-determined DiDi routes.

DiDi Car Rental

Rent a car through the DiDi app.

DiDi MiniBus

Use DiDi MiniBus to travel in 5- and 7-seater vans between transportation hotspots, including public transit terminals.

DiDi Enterprise Solutions

DiDi Enterprise Solutions provides corporate clients with flexible, efficient and reliable corporate mobility solutions free from reimbursement and processing pains.

DiDi's most luxurious service, described as a true 5 star experience. DiDi only hires professional chauffeurs as drivers for this service.

DiDi Bike Sharing

DiDi's Bike Sharing Program. Order a bicycle to use for a duration of time off of the DiDi app.

• ← What is OlaCabs?
• What is DiDi Chuxing? →

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DiDi Rider: Affordable rides 4+

Reliable rideshare service, designed for iphone.

• #2 in Travel
• 4.8 • 149.3K Ratings

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Description.

DiDi is the best way to travel, offering safe and fast rides across 28 cities across Australia and New Zealand. Just download the app, choose a destination, find a driver and pay directly in the app. Whether you’re heading out with friends or need a ride from the airport DiDi can get you there safely, at a fraction of the cost. Let your dollar travel further with our everyday low fares and exceptional service. Why choose DiDi? Low Fares Every Day At DiDi we believe that ridesharing should be an affordable experience for everyone. That’s why we charge less for our service than competing ride sharing services. DiDi fares are consistently lower than other ride hailing and taxi services, which means you get to save more money to spend on the activities you love. Fast & Reliable We’ve got over 130,000 drivers at your fingertips across Australia & New Zealand, which means you can find a ride fast. Easily connect to a driver via the DiDi app in seconds and you’ll have a car at your location in minutes! Safety First We’re committed to helping make every ride with DiDi as safe as possible. All our drivers have undergone extensive background checks, facial verification, vehicle inspections, ongoing monitoring & more. We offer world leading in-app safety features such as in trip check ins, phone number and home address anonymization, sharing your trip with trusted contacts and more. Award Winning Rideshare Aussies have rated DiDi the best ridesharing service in Canstar Blue’s 2020 review, giving it five stars over 8 categories, including reliability, customer service, cleanliness, value for money and more! Driver Friendly Our drivers get to keep more of your fare compared to competing ride hailing services, which means by using DiDi you also support the livelihood of local drivers. It’s a win-win choice for both you and your driver. DiDi Rider Services Express: Quick and affordable rides, up to 2 people. Easy & affordable. Max: Spacious and affordable rides, for groups up to 6 or extra luggage Rideshare: Match with another traveler in the same direction and split the cost. Up to 40% cheaper than DiDi Express rides. Delivery: Affordable, on-demand city-wide delivery. Low delivery fares starting from $6.30 for 24/7 on-demand delivery. Need help? Access https://australia.didiglobal.com/rider/help/ or email us [email protected]

Version 7.4.60

- Various improvements and bug fixes - Improved some page display details of product presentation

Ratings and Reviews

149.3K Ratings

Best service in the “taxis” industry.

I’ve been using DiDi for a while now, not once have I had a problem. They’re really considered of their customers, there’s constant monitoring of the trips back and forth. On multiple occasions I’ve been upgraded to DiDi max for free. The funds that were taken out of my account for authorisation have been placed back in my account literally 5 minutes after the cancelled trips. Drivers are really fast and they don’t make you wait. You get the exact location where the drivers picking you up and a picture. Which I had quite bit of problem with Uber regarding this case. Prices on the app are quite cheap and reasonable. It’s a lot more cheaper and helpful then Uber. 1000% recommend this app if you use car services like me a lot!!

I will never use your company again

How come you do not have a phone number your customer can call in case of query? I ride with one of your partner driver and the guy was so rude. The rain was pouring so hard and my son was a bit unsettled because of the traffic and the driver told us if he doesn’t stop he will end the trip. One minute away from my workplace my son vomited. He doesn’t want us to get off the car because he said i have two options to pay a $300 or come with him on a professional carwash. He even didn’t give me a chance to atleast let me clean myself and my son before dealing with him. When i politely ask him about dealing with my son first and promised to come back he block the way in our workplace shouting saying hey are you gonna pay me? He insistently want me to come with him at a “professional carwash” as he said it will cost him $300 for his Mercedes to be clean. my boss insisted that i will not come with him. My boss ask him to go clean his car and come back for the receipt but he park in our workplace for 2 hours. After two hours he went out and came back after one hour with a bill. I can send photo as there was no mark left in his car because my son vomited on him not on his car. I don’t know why you let rude people be your partner. I would never ride with your driver anymore. It is okay if he talked politely but he is just so rude and without consideration.

Developer Response ,

Hello! Your safety, comfort, and satisfaction are our top priorities, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and discomfort caused by the behavior of the driver. To address your concerns and investigate this matter further, we kindly ask you to contact our support team using the following link: web.didiglobal.com (type into your browser and select your location). Our dedicated representatives will take appropriate actions. DiDi Rider - The world’s leading mobility platform

Stupiest app on earth

Although DiDi is usually cost than Uber. I would say this app is trash. Experience many times where there were driver pick up the drive and we waited there for ten or more than ten mins long and the driver just cancelled the ride when he is nearly arrive at the pick up point. Sometimes this happen within the same hour multiple times. Yes you are right, I spent an hour waited for a drive. Why didn't I just used Uber? Also meet so many drivers who do not have their car matched the one showed on their profiles. Extremely irresponsible act that is. There are also drivers who pick up the ride and then stops at 300 metres away from the pick up point and said they’ve already arrived when the traffic is good, and I messaged them and they just simply don’t reply but rather waited after the two mins waiting time to charged me cancellation fees. After they the app automatically charged me the fee exceeding the waiting time. THESE DRIVERS JUST CANCEL THE RIDE AND LEAVE! Can’t believe how this app works and what kinda people is driving the rides. I have some many bad experiences about DiDi, you really need to filter the people that drive.

Hi, Wenjeeha! That's not the level of service we claim to provide you. We hope our drivers to maintain a high standard of professional care and service. If you had a different experience, please reach out at web.didiglobal.com (type the link in your browser and select your location), and we'll see this through in no time. Give us a chance, okay? DiDi Rider - The world’s leading mobility platform

App Privacy

The developer, DiDi , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer's privacy policy .

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The Rise and Fall of the World’s Ride-Hailing Giant

Didi pushed the limits and thrived in legal gray areas. Until China cracked down.

By Raymond Zhong and Li Yuan

China’s leading ride-hailing company, Didi, was an operation of dubious legality when it raised its first big bucket of money nearly a decade ago. And in one way or another, it has been testing the authorities ever since.

When a venture capital firm invested $3 million in the company in 2012, Didi lacked several of the state-issued licenses it needed to do business, two people familiar with the matter said. When Beijing, Shanghai and other big cities began requiring that drivers for ride-hailing platforms be local residents, Didi protested . Today, the company acknowledges that many rides are still being provided by drivers and vehicles that don’t meet local requirements.

And when China’s government demanded that ride-hailing services share real-time trip data for safety purposes, Didi dragged its feet, citing privacy concerns — until the rapes and murders of two female passengers finally pushed the company to relent.

Didi and other Chinese internet giants grew big and powerful by learning to thrive in regulatory gray zones. And by and large, Beijing was fine with that. The companies were making China richer, more productive and better entertained. They moved fast, and they might have broken a few rules. But so long as online conversations were filtered, search results were sanitized and videos were censored, internet companies’ success was the nation’s.

Didi, after all, was the homegrown hero that stopped Uber’s global expansion in its tracks. Didi showed that Chinese entrepreneurs could go head to head with Silicon Valley’s brashest and most cunning upstarts, and come out on top.

Those days are over. Under Xi Jinping, the Communist Party’s most powerful leader since Mao, China has taken a hard ideological turn against unfettered private enterprise. It has set out a series of strictures against “disorderly” corporate expansion. No longer will titans of industry be permitted to march out of step with the party’s priorities and dictates.

Silicon Valley may not have managed to halt the Chinese tech industry’s rise. But Mr. Xi might.

On issues like data security, privacy and worker protections, Beijing’s scrutiny is long overdue. Yet Chinese officials have moved against tech companies with a speed and ferocity that might unsettle even the most ardent Western trustbusters.

The United States and Europe also want to tame the excesses and extremes of capitalism in the smartphone age. China is smoothing out the rough edges with a chain saw.

In early July, two days after Didi went public in New York, China’s internet regulator ordered it to stop signing up new users while officials examined its cybersecurity practices. Then Didi’s apps were forced off mobile stores . Then the company was fined for antitrust violations . Then passels of government officials stationed themselves in Didi’s offices.

There is almost certainly more to come.

Didi’s ascent, which more than a dozen former employees described to The New York Times, did not merely end Uber’s business in China. It made Didi the biggest online ride platform on the planet. On average, 156 million people a month used Didi in China in the first quarter of this year, compared with 98 million for Uber worldwide . Didi handled 25 million rides a day in China during that period; Uber, globally, 16 million. Those numbers do not include Didi’s services in Latin America, Japan, Russia and beyond.

China wants to make sure Didi’s next chapter — and the whole tech industry’s — is less unruly than the first. In this age of distrust between China and the United States, one of Beijing’s concerns appears to be whether companies like Didi, with all their data and influence on ordinary lives in China, should really be going public on American stock exchanges.

After Didi’s initial public offering, the company was valued at $79 billion at its July 1 peak. Its 38-year-old founder and chief executive, Cheng Wei, and its president, Jean Liu, 43, who is almost certainly the most prominent woman in China’s internet industry, own shares worth billions.

It is taking much less time to destroy that wealth than it did to create it.

‘This Place Was Never Conquered’

In late January 2015, Zhou Hang, the founder of one of China’s earliest ride-hailing companies, Yongche, got a call from Mr. Cheng. The two met at a luxury hotel near Beijing’s Summer Palace, and over dinner they discussed the possibility of a merger. Yongche had been a pioneer in ride hailing, while Didi was a leader in taxis. A union would make sense.

Soon after, rumors about a tie-up started circulating in the Chinese tech media . Mr. Zhou asked Mr. Cheng whether he had leaked the news. Only the two of them had been at the dinner. Mr. Cheng denied doing so.

But on Valentine’s Day, Didi announced that it would join forces with its biggest rival, Kuaidi. Mr. Zhou now believes that Mr. Cheng used their meeting to push Kuaidi to agree to the merger.

The boyish, bespectacled Mr. Cheng had brought a bagful of cutthroat corporate tricks to China’s booming online rides industry.

He was 22 when he talked his way into a job at the e-commerce giant Alibaba. The sales team he joined was nicknamed the “iron army” for its relentless drive. After climbing Alibaba’s ranks for six years, Mr. Cheng started Didi because of how hard it was to get a cab in Beijing. Populations in China’s megacities had swelled, but the supply of taxis wasn’t keeping up. The company’s name is meant to mimic the sound of a car horn.

In Didi’s early years, Mr. Cheng copied Alibaba’s tradition of ice-breaking rituals for new hires, including intimate questions such as how they lost their virginity, former employees said. Once, as punishment after Didi users reported bad experiences, he forced his chief technology officer to streak, Mr. Cheng told the Chinese magazine Caijing . He ordered other executives to clean bathrooms.

Mr. Cheng also adopted Alibaba’s zest for waging war against rivals.

According to Mr. Zhou, Yongche’s system was inundated with fake orders after Didi started its ride-hailing service in 2014. Cars were dispatched, but no customers showed up, tying up Yongche’s drivers. When Yongche investigated, it found that many of the orders had come from internet addresses near Didi’s offices, Mr. Zhou said.

The Times sent Didi a list of detailed questions for this article, but the company declined to comment. In the past, Didi has denied other allegations about faking orders.

Didi’s tactics against Uber in China could be equally underhanded. According to “Super Pumped,” a chronicle of Uber’s rise by the Times reporter Mike Isaac, Didi managers sent fake text messages to Uber drivers, saying that Uber had shut down in China and that they should work for Didi instead. Didi also sent new recruits to be hired by Uber as engineers. There, they acted as moles, feeding information back to Didi.

The trickery paid off. In August 2016, after the two companies had spent hundreds of millions of dollars fighting each other, Uber announced that it would sell its China operations to Didi . Bloomberg Businessweek splashed Mr. Cheng on its cover and called him the “Uber slayer.”

Like many Chinese business executives, Mr. Cheng is fond of military metaphors. In interviews , he has compared Didi’s years of conflict and competition to the Battle of Verdun. He said he saw his own spirit fighting Uber reflected in Russian propaganda films.

“Napoleon came to Moscow,” he told one interviewer . “Hitler came to Moscow. None of them prevailed. This place was never conquered.”

In the Gray Zone

It was only four-odd decades ago that private ownership was forbidden in China, and the Communist Party has been hot and cold on the concept ever since. Private businesses have long had to figure out how to make a buck under threat of being squashed by the authorities.

If Didi was very worried about the government in its early years, it didn’t show it.

In 2014, when the city of Beijing banned the use of private cars for ride-hailing businesses, Mr. Zhou of Yongche obeyed and took such vehicles off his company’s platform, he said. Didi did not, as officials soon discovered . When Shanghai accused Didi of running an illegal taxi business, the company said it worked only with lawful car-leasing companies, not with individual car owners.

Mr. Zhou now says he made a big strategic blunder. But he had reason to be cautious. Yongche had been under constant pressure from regulators. Mr. Zhou and other executives were regularly summoned to government meetings for criticism and lecturing.

“We knew fear because we had seen the tiger,” Mr. Zhou said. “Cheng Wei didn’t seem to be as afraid.”

Didi had acquired some political capital. In September 2015, Mr. Cheng was the youngest member of the Chinese delegation that accompanied Mr. Xi on a visit to Seattle . Mr. Xi later stopped at Didi’s booth at a Chinese conference and listened and smiled as Mr. Cheng talked about his company’s global ambitions.

But at the time, Chinese officials were also unwilling or unable to challenge tech companies on antitrust grounds. After Didi merged with Kuaidi in 2015, Mr. Zhou filed an antimonopoly complaint to the authorities, but he never heard back, he said.

The next year, China’s Commerce Ministry said it would investigate Didi’s tie-up with Uber. The combined Didi was obviously a behemoth, with something like 90 percent of the Chinese market. But Chinese law did not contain clear rules governing mergers between companies, like Didi and Uber, whose owners were mostly foreign investors. Beijing never unwound their union.

China’s transportation regulators, too, were watching Didi. Many Chinese cities require drivers and vehicles to meet standards and obtain licenses to provide ride-hailing services. The police have regularly pulled over and penalized Didi drivers whose papers aren’t in order.

Yet several former Didi employees said that for many years, most local authorities seemed to know it would be impractical to demand total compliance. In big cities like Beijing, taxi licenses are often held by the rich and politically connected, who use their clout to prevent regulators from increasing the supply of licenses. Officials also understand that ordering Didi to bar unlicensed drivers would put the drivers out of work.

Didi has gotten so used to operating in this legal purgatory that it reimburses drivers for their fines. For Didi, the value of keeping drivers on the road is worth the potential penalties. But for the drivers, this arrangement is no guarantee they won’t be on the hook for fines or hassled on the job.

Many Didi drivers have taken to social media to complain about the company’s capricious reimbursement policies. One driver, Li Pei, had just dropped someone off in February when a police officer stopped him and fined him around $2,300 for not having a ride-hailing license. When Mr. Li, 29, asked Didi for reimbursement, the company said it wasn’t responsible because he hadn’t been carrying a passenger when pulled over.

Mr. Li said Didi had never told him anything about needing a special license.

“Do you think they would tell you that? If they did, who would still drive for them?” he said. “If Didi doesn’t fail, heaven wouldn’t tolerate the injustice.”

Killings Threaten Growth

By 2018, Didi was busy taking over the world. It was expanding into Australia and other overseas markets. It had opened a lab in Silicon Valley to develop “intelligent driving technologies” and had begun contemplating going public.

Then came the murders.

The first victim was a 21-year-old flight attendant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. It was May 2018. Didi apologized and suspended Hitch, the car-pooling service the woman had been using when she was killed. But it was not until that August, when another woman was raped and stabbed while riding with Hitch, in the city of Wenzhou, that the company went into crisis mode.

After the second murder, some Didi employees were shocked that the company had brought Hitch back online just a week after suspending it, even if some new safety features had been added in the interim. But Hitch had been lucrative for Didi. It was cheaper to let customers drive one another around than to pay professional drivers. The company had celebrated Hitch’s manager, Huang Jieli , in an internal video that compared her to Hua Mulan, the female warrior of ancient Chinese legend.

It was hardly a secret that Didi had been making breakneck growth a priority. The company had to prove it was worth the eye-popping prices that investors like SoftBank had tagged it with.

At an employee conference that February, Didi’s president, Ms. Liu, had acknowledged some growing pains: “Like a soul that has not kept pace with a body, the maturing of our organization has not kept up with the growth in our business.”

In a contrite letter to employees after the murders, Mr. Cheng went further: “The ‘run like crazy’ model of development long ago planted hidden dangers.”

Not long before the first murder, on a chilly evening in Beijing, Yang Tingting had been in a Didi when she noticed her driver was smirking at her. She tried to ignore him. But then he began asking, “How much do you charge for one?”

Terrified, Ms. Yang, who was 30, thought about trying to jump out of the car.

Back at her hotel, she submitted complaints in the Didi app, but customer service didn’t call her until the next afternoon. When she explained what the driver had done, the male service agent asked: “Did you give him any hints? Could he have misunderstood you?”

When Ms. Yang said she had been dressed professionally and worked in media, the agent said that perhaps the driver had been asking how much it would cost to place an advertisement. She said she had felt that the driver meant to harm her. The agent just laughed.

A Troubled Recovery

By that point, Chinese officials had been dissatisfied with one element of Didi’s safety controls for years. Since 2016, the Transportation Ministry had been asking ride-hailing companies to upload real-time data about drivers, cars and trips to a central platform . But Didi was slow to share information, despite sharp warnings from national and local authorities.

“Is there really any need to give real-time data to regulators?” the company’s chief development officer at the time, Li Jianhua, told a reporter in 2017. “If our user information is leaked by a government department, who is responsible then?”

Only after the murders did Didi agree to upload all its data . It made other safety improvements and fired Hitch’s manager, Ms. Huang , who couldn’t be reached for comment for this article.

The company tried to win Brownie points with Beijing by hiring 1,000 Communist Party members to work as customer service agents. But its image had suffered.

It didn’t help when, a year later, Didi restarted Hitch in a few cities with a new feature that was supposed to protect women: After 8 p.m., the service would be available only to men. Web users denounced the policy as lazy and sexist. Ms. Liu apologized, and Didi made Hitch unavailable to everyone after 8.

Some employees were taken aback at how badly Didi had botched its big comeback. Even after Hitch functionality was restored, Hitch as a business never recovered.

After the murders, China’s government dialed up the pressure on Didi to get drivers and cars licensed. To defray the costs of upgrading their vehicles to meet standards, drivers demanded higher earnings. That meant higher fares, and higher fares meant slower growth. Slower growth made it difficult to recruit and retain talent. Didi cut bonuses and laid off workers.

In time, though, the convenience of Didi’s services proved irresistible even for customers like Ms. Yang, the writer who had been harassed by her driver in Beijing.

At first, the encounter cast a “psychological shadow,” she said, and she couldn’t bear to ride with Didi.

“But then I realized that the other ride-hailing platforms weren’t necessarily better than Didi when it came to safety, particularly after Didi made its improvements,” Ms. Yang said. She went back to being what she calls a heavy Didi user.

‘Data Is the Lifeline’

Safety concerns of a different kind led Beijing to bring down the hammer after Didi went public in June.

“Data is the lifeline of any business,” Mr. Cheng had told the BBC in 2018. “If you can’t guarantee data security, that’s going to be totally destructive for the business.”

China has enacted a series of laws to ensure that tech companies protect their data and store it locally. Regulators have also ordered the creators of hundreds of apps to stop collecting user information to excess. In regulatory filings ahead of its I.P.O., Didi noted that its business could suffer if the Chinese authorities were not satisfied with its data security and privacy practices.

But those specific risks barely came up in Didi executives’ discussions with investors and bankers before the listing, two people involved in the process said.

One of them said that because Didi had already talked with investors and lined up cornerstone shareholders in the months before, top company brass felt it didn’t need to spend as much time making formal sales pitches as would be standard for an I.P.O. Didi’s underwriting banks agreed, this person said.

Didi filed its preliminary paperwork on June 10. By June 29, it had priced its shares at $14 apiece. They began trading on the New York Stock Exchange the next day.

China’s internet regulator pounced first.

Didi may have hoisted itself into Beijing’s cross-hairs by choosing to go public in this year of crackdowns on Big Tech. Even so, the company is now a stand-in for something much larger than itself. What China does with Didi could tell us how Mr. Xi intends to treat all entrepreneurs and would-be disrupters.

“Something needs to be done; there’s just no question about it,” said Minxin Pei, a political scientist who studies China at Claremont McKenna College. But “the way they are doing it is very counterproductive.”

“The government tends to act in a way that errs not on the side of caution,” Professor Pei said, “but on the side of excess.”

Michael J. de la Merced contributed reporting, and Albee Zhang contributed research.

Raymond Zhong is a technology reporter. Before joining The Times in 2017, he covered India's fast-moving economy from New Delhi for The Wall Street Journal. More about Raymond Zhong

Li Yuan writes the New New World column , which focuses on the intersection of technology, business and politics in China and across Asia. More about Li Yuan

Extended Navigation

Ride-hailing for the blind: didi promises accessible travel.

Didi Chuxing, the ride-hailing and urban transport tech company that ate Uber’s lunch in China, seems to be getting serious about accessibility for people with disabilities.

For most Chinese mobile users, the ride-sharing revolution has made travel as easy as tapping a button. But for Zhōu Tóng 周彤, the gains remain out of reach.

“There were countless times when I had issues getting a cab, and when the driver saw my guide dog, his initial reaction was to refuse the ride,” said Zhou (in Chinese).

Zhou is one of 17.5 million visually impaired people in China who have long faced barriers unbeknownst to the majority: buses without announcement systems, elevator buttons without Braille, and locks without voice activation.

But now, as the digital revolution gets under way, the visually impaired are facing new barriers even as China’s tech giants promise to break them down. Life in Chinese cities is increasingly difficult if one can’t use mobile phone apps, and Didi has become China’s main way to access taxis and other transportation.

Just navigating the complex interface of the Didi app is difficult enough for the visually impaired, but the troubles don’t stop even when Zhou manages to order a ride. “Many drivers count guide dogs as pets, and since pets aren’t allowed in cabs, there’s a high chance I get rejected,” she said.

Didi makes some accessibility promises

On April 13, Didi signed an agreement with the China Association of the Blind (CAB) to reduce barriers for the visually impaired in the ride-hailing process (in Chinese).

• Accessibility issues — which Chinese often refer to using the adjective wuzhangai (无障碍 wúzhàngai; literally, “barrier-free”) — became a topic of discussion on Chinese social media (in Chinese) following the news.
• Per the agreement, the Association will provide Didi with data to help verify blind passengers who require special services, while also providing consultation throughout the process.
• Lǐ Qìngzhōng 李庆忠, the president of CAB, said that accessibility, especially in the domain of travel, was a prerequisite for the visually impaired to participate in any social activity. “We hope that Didi’s experiences can be extended to more companies,” he said (in Chinese).

The news follows the ride-hailing giant’s earlier initiatives to improve its accessibility services. Last September, Didi launched the “ accessible travel service ” program (in Chinese), which sets out to help passengers with certified guide dogs “find a car, avoid rejection, and complete their travel smoothly.” The service covers 74 cities nationwide so far.

• The service makes hailing a ride easier for the visually impaired, prioritizes their order, and alerts certified drivers that they are not to refuse the order and must provide assistance if necessary.
• More than 1.8 million Didi drivers have completed the “accessible travel service” certification, which is more than half of all drivers in the cities where the service is offered. Certified drivers are trained to provide as much assistance as possible and never to refuse passengers with guide dogs.
• “We believe more drivers will join the “accessible travel service” program as they begin to better understand the service,” said Lúo Zhēnzhēn 罗真真, head of Didi’s corporate social responsibility unit, to 36Kr (in Chinese).
• Drivers receive awards and an additional bonus of 10 yuan ($1.50) per order after serving passengers with guide dogs.

Traveling for the visually impaired is a common challenge for many countries.

• In Japan, train stations offer ticketing machines with Braille buttons and voice prompts. Tactile paving helps the blind navigate inside the station, and some companies are experimenting with more involved audio guidance systems .
• In the U.S., Uber makes its software compatible with voice-over features and wireless Braille displays.
• In China, there are laws that ensure that the visually impaired have access to public spaces.
• Article 16 (in Chinese) of the Regulations on Construction of Accessible Environments mandates that “staff working in public places must provide accessibility services to the visually impaired in accordance with relevant state regulations.”

But Didi is ahead of most competitors in the transportation industry on the issue of accessibility. Prior to working with the visually impaired, it rolled out a number of solutions for those with special needs. They include Didi’s more spacious, wheelchair-friendly “ Accessibility Car ” (in Chinese) and the child-car-seat-equipped “ Baby Car ” (in Chinese), both launched in 2017.

“We hope our experience can be referenced and put into practice by our peers,” said Luo (in Chinese). “On the issue of social responsibility, there are no competitors — only partners.”

Chang Che was The China Project’s Business & Technology staff writer. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Foreign Affairs, Nikkei Asia, and The LA Review of Books. You can follow him on Twitter at @changxche . Read more

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Far fewer young Americans now want to study in China. Both countries are trying to fix that

David Moser, an American and associate professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, poses for a photo at the university, Friday, March 22, 2024 in Beijing, China. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students are at U.S. schools. Without these U.S. students, “in the next decade, we won’t be able to exercise savvy, knowledgeable diplomacy in China,” warned Moser, an American linguist who went to China in the 1980s and is now tasked with establishing a new master’s program for international students at Beijing Capital Normal University. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

David Moser, an American and associate professor at Capital Normal University in Beijing, poses for a photo at a restaurant in Beijing, China, Friday, March 22, 2024. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students are at U.S. schools. Without these U.S. students, “in the next decade, we won’t be able to exercise savvy, knowledgeable diplomacy in China,” warned Moser, an American linguist who went to China in the 1980s and is now tasked with establishing a new master’s program for international students at Beijing Capital Normal University. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he sees interest among fellow scholars wane even after China reopened.

Common concerns, he said, include restrictions on academic freedom and the risk of being stranded in China.

These days, only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of close to 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at U.S. schools.

Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see as diminishing economic opportunities and strained relations between Washington and Beijing.

Whatever the reason for the imbalance, U.S. officials and scholars bemoan the lost opportunities for young people to experience life in China and gain insight into a formidable American adversary.

And officials from both countries agree that more should be done to encourage the student exchanges, at a time when Beijing and Washington can hardly agree on anything else.

“I do not believe the environment is as hospitable for educational exchange as it was in the past, and I think both sides are going to need to take steps,” said Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

The U.S. has advised its. citizens to “reconsider travel” to China over concerns of arbitrary detentions and widened use of exit bans to bar Americans from leaving the country. Campbell said this has hindered the rebuilding of the exchanges and easing the advisory is now under “active consideration.”

For its part, Beijing is rebuilding programs for international students that were shuttered during the pandemic, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited tens of thousands of U.S. high school students to visit.

The situation was far different after President Barack Obama started the 100,000 Strong initiative in 2009 to drastically increase the number of U.S. students studying in China.

By 2012, there were as many as 24,583 U.S. students in China, according to data by the Chinese education ministry. The Open Doors reports by the Institute of International Education, which only track students enrolled in U.S. schools and studying in China for credit, show the number peaked at 14,887 in the 2011-12 school year. But 10 years later, the number was down to only 211.

In late 2023, the number of American students stood at 700, according to Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China, who said this was far too few in a country of such importance to the United States.

“We need young Americans to learn Mandarin. We need young Americans to have an experience of China,” Burns said.

Without these U.S. students, “in the next decade, we won’t be able to exercise savvy, knowledgeable diplomacy in China,” warned David Moser, an American linguist who went to China in the 1980s and is now tasked with establishing a new master’s program for international students at Beijing Capital Normal University.

Moser recalled the years when American students found China fascinating and thought an education there could lead to an interesting career. But he said the days of bustling trade and money deals are gone, while American students and their parents are watching China and the United States move away from each other. “So people think investment in China as a career is a dumb idea,” Moser said.

After 2012, the number of American students in China dipped but held steady at more than 11,000 for several years, according to Open Doors, until the pandemic hit, when China closed its borders and kept most foreigners out. Programs for overseas students that took years to build were shuttered, and staff were let go, Moser said.

Amy Gadsden, executive director of China Initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, also attributed some of the declining interest to foreign businesses closing their offices in China. Beijing’s draconian governing style, laid bare by its response to the pandemic, also has given American students a pause, she said.

Garrett, who is on track to graduate this summer from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, said he is ambivalent about working in China, citing the lack of access to information, restrictions on discussions of politically sensitive issues and China’s sweeping anti-spying law. He had lived in Hong Kong as a teenager and interned in mainland China, and said he is still interested in traveling to China, but not anytime soon.

Some American students remain committed to studying in China, said Andrew Mertha, director of the China Global Research Center at SAIS. “There are people who are interested in China for China’s sake,” he said. “I don’t think those numbers are affected at all.”

About 40 U.S. students are now studying at the Hopkins-Nanjing center in the eastern Chinese city, and the number is expected to go up in the fall to approach the pre-pandemic level of 50-60 students, said Adam Webb, the center’s American co-director.

Among them is Chris Hankin, 28, who said he believed time in China was irreplaceable because he could interact with ordinary people and travel to places outside the radar of international media. “As the relationship becomes more intense, it’s important to have that color, to have that granularity,” said Hankin, a master’s student of international relations with a focus on energy and the environment.

Jonathan Zhang, a Chinese American studying at the prestigious Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said it was more important than ever to be in China at a time of tense relations. “It’s really hard to talk about China without being in China,” he said. “I think it’s truly a shame that so many people have never stepped foot in China.”

Zhang was met with concerns when he deferred an offer at a consulting firm to go Beijing. “They’re like, ‘oh, be safe,’ or like, ‘what do you mean, you’re going back to China?’” Zhang said. “I feel like the (Chinese) government is trying with an earnest effort, but I feel like a lot of this trust has been broken.”

Gadsden said U.S. universities need to do more to nudge students to consider China. “We need to be more intentional about creating the opportunities and about encouraging students to do this deeper work on China, because it’s going to be interesting for them, and it’s going to be valuable for the U.S.-China relationship and for the world,” she said.

In China, Jia Qingguo, a professor of international relations and a national political adviser, has suggested Beijing clarify its laws involving foreign nationals, introduce a separate system for political reviews of foreign students’ dissertations, and make it easier for foreign graduates to find internships and jobs in Chinese companies.

Meanwhile, China is hosting American high school students under a plan Xi unveiled in November to welcome 50,000 in the next five years.

In January, a group of 24 students from Iowa’s Muscatine High School became the first to travel to China. The all-expenses-paid, nine-day trip took them to the Beijing Zoo, Great Wall, Palace Museum, the Yu Garden and Shanghai Museum.

Sienna Stonking, one of the Muscatine students, now wants to return to China to study.

“If I had the opportunity, I would love to go to college in China,” she told China’s state broadcaster CGTN. “Honestly, I love it there.”

Kang reported from Beijing.

How to Use Didi: The Best App to Book a Taxi in China

How to use the didi app – index, how didi works.

• What you need to install Didi (cell phone number, payment method, etc)

How to install DiDi on your cell phone

The type of rides that didi offers, what is the difference between taxi and express.

• How to reserve a car with DiDi

Quick guide on how to take a trip in ten steps

More information about didi, frequently asked questions.

If you don’t use DiDi you could have some problems in China. Sure you could always wave your hand at the side of the road and a taxi will still stop. But if it’s bad weather or rush hour, there’s no longer any hope of finding a taxi without this new app.

DiDi dache or DiDi chuxing (滴滴打车 or 滴滴出行) is the name of a cell phone app which makes it possible to contact both taxis and private cars with professional drivers.

In other words it’s like a local Uber . DiDi is not the only one on the market, but it’s certainly the most widespread and above all it has a convenient version in English.

There are two ways to use DiDi:

the first is to access the WeChat “wallet” section , and choose Ride Hailing. But here you won’t be able to use the app in English, even if your Wechat is installed in English.

The convenience is that direct payment is connected to Wechat and you don’t have to set up a new profile. Moreover, in the Chinese version of DiDi there are many more functions available than in the English version. But let’s say that the basic product, which is passenger transport, is fully functional in the English version.

• So, if as is the case with many, the Chinese app alienates you, then download the English version Didi Greater China (Currently not available in the AppStore or Google Play)

I recommend that you install DiDi and practice using it even for brief stays in China.

If you’ve already used Uber, DiDi won’t be difficult for you. You’ll have to enter your pick up location that corresponds to where the GPS shows your position (but always check, every so often the App has no references and places you near the nearest known point), or different choices. In the English App you can enter your location in both English and Chinese, but you can’t enter a shared location received via Wechat.

Next, insert your destination, again using the address in either English or Chinese characters, and then choose your type of course. Be careful when typing in the address in English because the translations are still a bit imaginative: at times it will say Zhong Shan Lu, sometimes Zhong Shan Road, and sometimes Middle Shan Road! So try a few times if your first attempt doesn’t produce any results.

With the exception of calling a taxi, it will always calculate the estimated trip cost , though it doesn’t include unexpected diversions or excessive delays due to traffic. But this will definitely help you to figure out if the driver is cheating you, also because once the trip has begun, on your App a navigation mode is activated that will show you the same road that DiDi is suggesting to the driver at the same time. With superior category cars, you can also see in detail how the fare is calculated.

This is all general information. Now let’s see the specifics on how to install it and how make a call.

What you need to install Didi

First of all you’ll need a Chinese cell phone number , which must be active and works. In fact the drivers will identify you by the last four digits of your cell number, and will call you if they have any doubt. Don’t worry, you can always fake that you don’t hear your phone…

The drivers can also contact you through DiDi’s own messaging system: there are a series precomposed messages so that you can have an easy exchange without falling into a lost in translation situation.

Moreover, the recent security system activated by Didi, the so-called DiDi Safeguard , makes a direct call to the closest police center and automatically notifies the emergency number you’ve inserted with a quick click. So your cell phone will be useful even if you run into an emergency situation.

Secondly, you need to enter a method of payment that is one of the ones listed on DiDi. Some have told me that a foreign credit or debit card will work, but I don’t have any direct experience with that. The other forms of payment, are all tied to a Chinese card or an Alipay or Wechat account connected to a Chinese card.

I’ll give you a little tip: think opening an account in China is crazy? If you already have a friend that lives there, they’ll surely already have everything necessary for managing money: Alipay, Wechat and a bank account. You can opt for a transfer from your Wechat wallet, which you can connect with DiDi. This means that you can use Wechat’s debit function to pay for your DiDi rides.

Obviously DiDi works on smartphones with a GPS system without a hitch.

Once you download the App you’ll have to enter your cell number (which is your identity!) and a method of payment. If for some reason while downloading the App it doesn’t download immediately in English, click on the little flower symbol for settings and choose the second heading in the menu, where you’ll find English.

Follow the instructions in the installation guide.

You can additionally enter your preferred addresses right away, which for now is really just two choices, Home and Company. You can change them as much as you want, so if you’re traveling no one will keep you from adding your hotel address for every stay.

I also recommend that you quickly take care of the safety settings so that you don’t have to deal with the thousands of notifications from DiDi which will advise you to add emergency contacts or to enable trip registration.

At this point you’re actually able to fully use the App and its functions. The important thing is that the payment method is correctly installed. If you’ve decided to use Wechat or Alipay, check to see if you’ve adjusted the settings for automatic payment on the respective Apps: if not, it means that you’ll have to approve payment at the end of every trip.

This isn’t a problem, but if you’re too late to pay because you forget, the drivers will start giving you a low score (of course, users too receive feedback in stars) and your search on DiDi in times of greatest need will become increasingly arduous since your score lowers you in the classification of clients.

It’s the same thing for drivers, and I recommend that you always grade them carefully and honestly. If you’re not satisfied with your trip, you can even avoid using the same driver in the future by clicking on the option that’s on the bottom of the screen.

Express : in a few words these are private cars that offer transportation services. They are divided into ExpressPoll, Express and Select. The first is a ride shared with other passengers that “should” be on the same road as your destination, or a reasonable distance away, or are headed beyond your destination. The price is the lowest you can find on DiDi, other than special offers, which they have once in a while; but the savings isn’t always worth sharing the ride or taking a longer one.

With Express it indicates a ride from a private driver where you’re the only passenger and there are no intermediate stops before your destination.

The car Select is a very popular service that is vaguely similar to the other categories, yet still served by private drivers. They could be drivers with very high ratings or those who have made many trips and offer a higher category car. Obviously the price is higher than the Express.

• Premier : just to be clear this is the option for a private professional driver. They present themselves much better than the Express drivers and should guarantee you a more comfortable drive and a more popular service. These are usually the choice for even long distance work trips and are in cars that are preferably booked in advance. On board you’ll find water, battery chargers, an umbrella, tissues, etc. You can also choose the type of car: Comfort, Business Van (six seats) or Executive Class. The price doubles from the first to the third type, and the service becomes even more refined. There’s no guarantee that if you decide to use a Premier car for your trip that it will be immediately available since there aren’t many of them; this is why I said that it’s best to book them in advance for planned trips.
• Luxe : DiDi Luxe is a service that at the moment is only available in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This is a top notch car with professional drivers that will greet you in a uniform and white gloves.
• Taxi : returning among common people, DiDi has a big advantage in that you can also call for taxis, which remain the primary means of subsistence in certain cities. DiDi doesn’t calculate the hypothetical expense in advance, but sends you the meter at the end of the ride; nevertheless, the rides with private drivers will generally be cheaper. Taxis can also be paid with cash as long as it was called via DiDi, and you have the advantage of being able to get a paper receipt immediately after the end of the ride.

Taxi cars are generally much more rickety and less clean than those of private cars; but taxi drivers are great experts on traffic, so if you don’t fear the fictional Chinese driver but you need to swiftly reach your destination, I recommend a taxi.

This is also because DiDi drivers tend to stick to the route suggested by the DiDi navigator, even when these are jammed with traffic or less convenient, whereas a taxi driver will more easily take you on an alternate road.

An annoying detail that I noted when taking taxis and Express is that often these vehicles hide the seat belts in the back seats behind the seats themselves, or under the seat covers, or that they’re so old that they’re useless. Traveling often with my daughter, it’s been a problem for me: in fact in China car seats are not obligatory and you won’t find one available, even when booking the car in advance. A seat belt therefore remains the only form of security for babies.

The Chinese usually prefer to travel with Express or even ExpressPoll because they can save a little bit. But all things considered, for long trips, choosing a Premiere is maybe just another 5 € more for a service and driver that is much better.

How to book a car with DiDi

The typical situation is: I have to take a train or flight or I arrive at the airport – even at unfortunate times. No problem: choose which category of car you want to use and click on “reserve”.

With this function you can change the date and time of your ride. If you opt for a Premier, there’s already an airport option from the list on the menu, including the flight number in case the driver has to come get you upon arrival. Or enter the destination that you’re interested in and reserve.

Drivers like to give you a call to confirm, especially if you go to the airport or are waiting for a long drive. Now you know…

In addition, you have the chance to use all of DiDi’s functions, even for a friend, changing the passenger name: click on “for others” or “change passenger”. Fill out the required data and the charge will be made on your phone.

• Insert your starting point or confirm your location on DiDi through GPS
• Insert your destination in Chinese characters or in English
• Choose the type of car you want to use and how many seats you’ll need if you choose ExpressPoll
• Confirm the call
• Wait for the car assignment: at times, in the most crowded period, you’ll be shown your position in line and an estimated wait time; you can count on these not being overly precise…
• Check if the driver has sent you a message in the “message” section, which is also in English (I usually ignore it and have never been left to go on foot)
• If you’ve changed your mind, cancel within two minutes of an assignment
• Take the ride
• Confirm payment only once you’ve arrived at your destination and check that the driver ends the ride on his App
• Rate the service

Founded in 2012, DiDi Chuxing has transformed the Chinese taxi system by allowing persons to instantly book a taxi with just a click. The word DiDi is the equivalent to the words of “Beep Beep” when honking a car, which many are aware of.

The creator of the company, Cheng Wei, previously worked at Alibaba with sales and saw the demand for the service. The president of the company, Jean Liu, has an impressive track record and has both studied Computer Science at Harvard and worked at Goldman Sachs for 12 years.

She’s one of the masterminds behind the successful growth of DiDi since she started working for the company. As early as 2014, she became the COO of the company and then president.

The company is currently headquartered in Beijing and has expanded to various other countries and regions over the years, including Mexico, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, and more.

In the past years, the company has also invested in various other large-sized companies, including Grab, Lyft, and Ola. The company has also partnered up with SoftBank in Japan to launch its services in the country.

With almost 12,000 employees worldwide, DiDi is now one of the leading mobile transportation globally and caters to more than 550 million in the Asia Pacific, Russia, and Latin America. In addition to its taxi-hailing services, it now also offers services with buses, bikes & e-bikes, P2P rideshares, designated driving, automobile solutions, logistics, and financial services.

The company has won many awards in the previous years, including:

• Fast Company- Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in China
• Cleantech Group-Global CleanTech 100
• CNBC-CNBC Disruptor 50
• Fortune-Change The World
• Google Play Best of 2018-Best Hidden Gem for Mexico

With that said, the company has struggled with profitability issues and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 didn’t make the situation better. Despite receiving large-sized investments from 18 investors, including China Life Insurance, Apple, Toyota, and SoftBank, the company is not yet profitable.

With that said, it’s by far the biggest taxi-hailing company, especially since it merged with Kuaidi a few years back.

Finally, even if the company is privately owned and not profitable as of the moment I’m writing this article, the company targets a valuation of around USD 60 billion by its IPO. Some analysts also believe that the valuation can rise due to DiDi’s international expansion.

The company also has vast plans for automation and aims to have one million robot taxis in the coming years. With Uber and Grab out of the market, DiDi has a competitive advantage to further expand in the Chinese market as well.

About The Author

Rita Andreetti

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15 thoughts on “how to use didi: the best app to book a taxi in china”.

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Can I use my American phone number for the app in China?

The Didi link through Wechat is now all in English,

So it seems I can book a Didi now through Wechat, but can I pay in cash? As my Wechat balance is zero,

Yes you can pay in cash

Didi says it is unavailable on my App Store for my iPhone even though the I live in China, any suggestions?

You may need to change country of the App Store

What is the difference between express and premier? Is there any price difference between them?

DiDi Nerver working if you do not have a local bank account.

Ali Pay and Wechart Pay alos need a local bank account.

Thanks for the effort but a lot of this information seems pretty vague. I tried to test out the reservation system based on the instructions and it was very confusing. Maybe the interface has changed since your last update?

I was expecting to be able to cancel easily but that wasn’t the case. Later I found ‘My trips’ under my account showing that the trip had been cancelled but only after receiving a phone call from an annoyed driver who’d already waited for me to show up. Hopefully my rating didn’t already go down.

At some point a message system popped up automatically but afterwards I couldn’t locate a message center in the app, anywhere.

It’s a confusing interface, at least for a first-time user. Not a very confidence-inspiring test run before an early morning transfer to the station.

Yes the App might have changed a bit since we last updated the article (we can’t keep track of all App updates), but the basic structure didn’t change.

As stated in the article you have 2 minutes to cancel the trip, but depending on the ride the driver may take less than this time to arrive.

We can’t do anything if the App has bugs or is confusing, the objective of this article is to introduce the App, describe the features and give a general idea of how to use it.

Anyway how to use wechat location to be auto inserted i the destination fieled this will make for foreign to use didi….. Like now long click show map.. It will be good to didi as option……

I am taking a trip to China next month, and would like to use the DiDi app, but have not chinese phone number. Is is better to download the app in the US, then is it possible to change the phone number, once I get a chinese sim card? or should I try and wait to download the app once I get to china?

It’s a chinese app, so I think it’s ok to get it in China!

You cannot get didi in China. Only in the west. Then when u get here you need a Chinese phone number. You can exchange SIM Card. But…you cannot use WECHAT to pay as you are a Foreigner. If you are a visitor for a short time you cannot get a bank card without a WORKING VISA. I’ve tried it and I’m here visiting family for 3 months.. o working Visa..no bank account….no payment links.for scanning then. Cash for everything and sometimes cash is not accepted without difficulty. It’s a pain on the ass for visitors to this country and they should fix the issue or less and less foreigners will come here…maybe that’s how they want it….

Some banks still allow you to open an account without a working visa but depends on the province and the branch. Anyway you can use Alipay to pay.

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Travel could be a good deal this summer. Here's when plane ticket prices will peak.

Spring is springing, and according to Hopper, it’s time to start thinking about your summer vacation plans.

New data from the online booking site shows some favorable trends for travelers in the next few months, including slightly lower airfares compared with 2023 and hotel and car rental prices that are more or less flat year-over-year.

Here’s what you need to know as you prepare to book, whether you’re looking for a domestic getaway or go on an overseas adventure. It’s also not too late to take advantage of deals on some last-minute trips.

How much are spring and summer plane tickets?

According to Hopper, the best deals right now are on domestic airline tickets. Round-trip flights within the U.S. are averaging $290 in April, but prices are expected to rise in the months ahead.

Hopper’s data shows prices for domestic flights will peak between May and June at $315 on average, then will gradually fall through the summer, reaching a low of $264 on average in September.

On a call with investors discussing first-quarter earnings Wednesday, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said summer travel demand has been pushed forward in recent years in part because schools, especially in the South, are finishing their summer breaks earlier in the year.

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This summer also will be a good time to travel internationally; Hopper data shows fares to most destinations abroad are down compared with last year. 

“Airfare to international destinations continues to improve following two years of bloated prices due to quickly recovering demand, high fuel prices and supply constraints. Airfare to most major regions of the world has dropped compared to last year with the exception of trips to Canada,” Hayley Berg, Hopper’s chief economist, said in the report. “International fares remain higher than pre-pandemic levels to most regions, as higher fuel prices persist and airlines continue to rebuild capacity to many regions.”

How much will a hotel room for the spring and summer cost?

Hotel prices remain mostly flat compared with the same time last year. Rooms in the U.S. are averaging $206 a night; better deals are available in some trending international destinations like Osaka, Japan, and Istanbul, Turkey.

According to Hopper, Las Vegas, New York and Chicago remain popular destinations in the U.S.

Will car rental prices rise this summer?

Car rental prices also haven’t increased much since last year and average $42 a day, according to Hopper.

The report shows most travelers rent a car for about four days, and warm-weather destinations like Orlando and Los Angeles remain popular pickup points.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at [email protected].

Drive with DiDi

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Driver-partner Benefits

Increase your earning potential.

Take home more of the fare with DiDi’s industry-leading low Services Fees and additional bonuses.

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Access in-app safety features and our 24/7 dedicated support team.

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Pick up nearby riders or choose the location you want to drive in.

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Our Services in Australia

DiDi Travel Australia

Long distance for less! The more you travel the more you save.

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Affordable, on-demand city-wide delivery

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Quick and affordable rides for everyday. Up to 5 people. Easy & Affordable.

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Quick and affordable rides for everyday. Up to 4 people. Easy & Affordable.

Requirements to become a Driver

Driver requirements in vic.

Have a smartphone, mobile number and email address

Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident or otherwise have the right to work in Australia

Have held an unrestricted Australian driver licence for at least 6 months

Have an ABN and be GST-registered

Hold a current Driver Accreditation

Be listed as the insured driver on the insurance

Vehicle Requirements in VIC

Vehicles must meet the state government’s requirements and must be in great condition, free of any damage and decals. The vehicle must:

be no more than 10 years

have a minimum of 4 doors

seat a minimum of 4 passengers

seat a maximum of 6 passengers

RWC accepted. Exemption for new vehicle within 12 months

be covered under a current third-party or comprehensive insurance

be registered as a Commercial Passenger Vehicle in Victoria

Driver requirements in NSW

Have held an unrestricted Australian driver licence for at least 12 months

Have not had any serious criminal offences

Have not had any serious traffic offences

Vehicle Requirements in NSW

not be an ex-taxi

pass a pink slip vehicle inspection in the last 12 months. *Exempt for new vehicle registered in 12 months

be registered in NSW and covered by the NSW CTP insurance

Driver requirements in QLD

Hold a Driver Authority of Type BHTX, TAXI or LIMO

Complete the mandatory driver training

Vehicle Requirements in QLD

pass an inspection in the past 12 months

*Exempt for new vehicle registered within 12 months

be covered by a third-party or comprehensive insurance

hold a Booked Hired Service Licence (BHSL)

Driver requirements in WA

Hold a current Passenger Transport Driver Authorisation (PTD-A)

Vehicle Requirements in WA

be registered in WA and covered by 3F Motor Injury Insurance (MII)

be registered for Passenger Transport Vehicle Authorisation (PTV-A)

Driver requirements in SA

Hold a valid Operator Accreditation

Vehicle Requirements in SA

be no more than 8 years

pass a vehicle inspection in the past 12 months

be covered under a current Upgraded CTP insurance (class: 48, 98, 7, 58)

Have a smartphone, mobile number and email address.

be no more than 15 years

New DiDi Travel Feature

Negotiate Your Fare!

We’re excited to announce that we’re trialling a new DiDi Travel feature - giving you the flexibility to choose your trips.

You’ll receive all Travel trip requests the same way you receive Express requests. However, you can also find Travel requests in the Trip Centre.

If you’re interested, offer your fare and “bid” according to the Base Fare set by the app. You can bid higher or lower, the choice is yours. Riders can then pick their driver based on what best suits them. It’s a win-win!

With this new feature, offer what you want to earn and enjoy a low 10% Services Fee . This means higher earnings for successful bids with DiDi Travel!

Find out more about it below.

How it Works

1. browse trips.

Check out trips as they pop up, or head to the ‘Trip Centre’ page in the DiDi Driver app and browse all available trip requests there.

2. Offer your Fare

Select a request and make a bid using the Base Fare provided by the app.

3. Wait for your Rider

The rider will consider your offer against other drivers and choose which suits them best. The rider can decide based on price, estimated arrival time, Star Rating, vehicle type etc. While you wait, you can browse (but not accept) other DiDi Travel trips.

4. Wait for your Rider

Once a rider accepts your offer, the trip will start as usual.

As per the Driver Agreement, please ensure you interact with the Driver App when it is legal and safe to do so.

Why you’ll love this feature

Freedom and flexibility to choose your trips

Offer what you want to earn

Low 10% Services Fee

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. what is this new feature.

With this new feature, drivers have the flexibility to decide how much they’re willing to offer for a fare. Drivers will receive these requests the same way they receive Express requests, or they can view all available trip requests via the Trip Centre in the app and make an offer on trips they’re interested in.

2. How do I receive Travel requests?

For now, we’re trialling DiDi Travel in certain cities where we think it will help riders and drivers match more often than they are now. Only drivers registered in participating cities will have access to these trips. If you’re eligible, you’ll receive DiDi Travel requests the same way you receive Express requests, or you can head to the ‘Trip Centre’ page in the DiDi Driver app and browse all available trip requests there.

3. How do I accept Travel trips?

You’ll receive Travel requests just like Express. Additionally, you can view Travel trips through the ‘Trip Centre’. To get there, simply tap the ‘Trip Centre’ icon to view a list of available trip requests. Then simply make an offer on a trip, or ignore the requests you don’t want to accept. Once the rider has accepted your offer, the trip will proceed as usual.

4. Why is the base fare for Travel so low?

While the Base Fare for DiDi Travel is provided by us, the final fare is agreed upon by riders and drivers. Base Fares are a starting point, and drivers can offer a higher or lower price as they think appropriate.

5. Why wasn't the trip assigned to me?

Riders have the freedom to choose their driver based on their needs. They can make their decision based on the driver’s proposed offer, estimated time of arrival, Star Rating or vehicle type. If a trip isn’t assigned to you, it means the rider has chosen another driver’s bid.

6. Does DiDi Travel affect my Acceptance Rate (AR) or Completion Rate (CR)?

Ignoring a Travel request from the Trip Centre in your DiDi Driver app will not affect your AR. However, if you cancel a trip after accepting, your CR will be affected as normal.

7. How can I tell if a trip is a DiDi Travel trip?

When a DiDi Travel trip pops up, you’ll notice there are multiple fare options to offer the rider, this makes DiDi Travel requests easily identifiable.

8. When can I receive DiDi Travel trips?

DiDi Travel is available 24/7.

9. How do Cancellation Fees work for Travel?

Our Cancellation Policy is the same for DiDi Travel as our other services. We’ve got Cancellations Fees in place to keep things fair for all users. Keep in mind that each city has its own cancellation rules. For details, please visit our Cancellation Policy available in the DiDi Driver app.

10. Will my account be affected if a rider does not accept my offer?

No, if a rider accepts another offer, your account will not be affected.

11. Why don’t I receive any trip requests while I'm waiting for a rider to accept an offer?

While an offer is pending, you won’t receive any other trip requests. In the Trip Centre, you’ll only be able to view, but not select other Travel requests.

12. The trip took longer than expected due to unforeseen circumstances, why was the fare not adjusted?

The final fare will be the same as the amount agreed upon by the rider and driver before the trip starts. The trip fare will not be adjusted under any

Do you have questions?

Know More about DiDi.

Available in 28 Cities

DiDi is now available in 28 cities across Australia. From north, south, east and west - we’ve got you covered. Check here to see a full list of the cities we are currently operating.

Good for you, good for drivers

DiDi’s industry leading Services Fees means a greater share of the fare goes into the Drivers' pocket.

Our services are available in these cities in Australia

All cities have Express, Max and Delivery

Central Coast

Coffs Harbour

Port Macquarie

Rockhampton

Sunshine Coast

Wagga Wagga

Driver Requirements per State

Select the state you are planning to drive

Driver requirements VIC

Driver Requirements for DiDi Driver QLD

Driver Requirements for DiDi Driver NSW

Driver Requirements for DiDi Driver SA

Driver Requirements for DiDi Driver WA

DIDI ADVANCE

DiDi Advance is a program that rewards the most committed drivers with lower services fee and bonus perks. It is available in limited cities only.

Your safety is our priority, learn more about the safety features available in the DiDi app so you can use them any time you need to.

STILL HAVE QUESTIONS?

Visit our Driver Help Center page and find out more about Signing up, payments and reward program

We travel a lot, and our son attends local classrooms along the way. We noticed primary schools in Europe let kids be kids.

• My husband and I homeschool our son, which allows us to travel. 
• In addition to his homeschooling curriculum, he has attended schools in different countries. 
• We've noticed differences — and similarities — between the schools he attended in Europe and the US.

My son has been homeschooled, essentially, his whole academic life. Because of this, we're able to travel multiple times each month without worrying about him missing school. I am a writer and my husband is a film and TV composer as well as an investor, which also makes this possible.

Not only can we take my son's work with us, but he has also been able to experience schooling in various countries by joining classrooms and homeschool groups throughout our travels. His curriculum is based in the United States, but integrating local schools helps him learn different languages, culture, and of course, make friends.

Because we have spent extended periods of time in Portugal, the Netherlands, and Italy, we have been able to experience how a few schools in these places approach education more intimately. While we've experienced some similarities across the schools he's attended, like classroom size and curriculum structure, we also noticed distinct differences in approach.

School was low-stress in the Netherlands

Where we lived in the Netherlands, children as young as four years old often happily walked themselves to school. The school my son attended in the Netherlands was run like a well-oiled machine, yet they still maintained a playful and innocent atmosphere.

The school administrators were strict about timeliness — I often witnessed that if students arrived even one minute late, they were considered late, with no exceptions. However, discipline for kids was simply a stern talking-to from teachers. Teachers told us that if children had issues with each other, they were expected to sort it amongst themselves, while the adults observed from a distance.

Friends who had kids at other schools in the Netherlands confirmed that this focus on independent conflict resolution with minimal adult intervention was common. Play was the central focus of the day for children until they were about seven years old. The primary focus during those early years was on children learning to coexist with one another rather than academics.

Learning to swim was also a significant focus in the early years in the Netherlands and considered more critical than learning to read by many locals we spoke with. Once compulsory, now only some schools integrate swim classes into the curriculum. Given the numerous canals everywhere, this emphasis is understandable.

Related stories

Children at my son's school spent a large portion of their day outdoors, regardless of the weather, which parents said was typical. The Dutch often say, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing." At school, my son assisted in preparing daily vegan meals, and occasionally brought home crafts to do.

Friends who had older kids in the Netherlands told me that the homework increased once they hit middle school, where there was more of an emphasis on academics. I truly appreciated this low-stress setting we encountered during our son's primary school years.

We saw more emphasis on collaboration than individual performance in Portugal

In Portugal, there was an emphasis on projects that children completed together to enhance their collaboration skills, and praise was often based on the collaboration itself rather than individual performance.

We noticed that children rarely had packed schedules filled with extracurricular activities like in the US, and often stayed up very late at night with their families, based on our own observations and talking to Portuguese parents.

While I adored the genuinely "crunchy" vibe of the schools my son attended and the kindness of the teachers, I believed our son would benefit from more structure and consistency in his routine . So, for a time, we supplemented even more than our usual load of schoolwork at home to provide more academic consistency during his short stint at a Portuguese school and eventually transitioned to only homeschooling again and met with a homeschool group for field trips.

We noticed less encouragement of competition in Italy than in the US

At the school my son goes to in Italy , it was immediately evident that food and dining is treated as an important part of the school day. Students are given a proper dining experience with formal table settings. The primary schools get a full two-hour break in the middle of the day including lunch and free time, known as riposo , lending to a much longer school day overall.

Football (soccer) is also taken seriously, so most schools we visited have specialized schedules specifically for children who play and perhaps want to pursue it as a career. Participation in the arts, football, and music is encouraged, but football is by far the most popular activity at our school and in our region.

As for the emphasis on the curriculum, so far, it seems far less rigid than in the US. Cognitive and social skills appear to be the primary objectives, rather than a heavy focus on testing. There is almost no encouragement of competition that we witnessed, as collaboration seems to be the focus until middle school.

My son is not yet in middle school, but from what I've heard both in preliminary conversations with schools, open days, and from Facebook groups with other expat parents , it sounds like middle school takes a more rigorous academic approach across Europe. For example, some countries, like Italy, expect children to know their primary focus of study by the time they enter high school, and then are placed in a specialized school program geared towards that interest area. Middle school seems to help form this decision by focusing on more specific subjects like robotics, engineering and anatomy, as they are already expected to know how to work together.

The unifying theme we observed throughout the schools in Europe that our son has attended, regardless of the country, was to allow children to be children and let the serious learning come later. At almost all the schools my son attended or toured, more importance was placed on children's ability to coexist together, work on projects and tasks collaboratively, than on core subjects like math, science, and history in those early years.

Each country had something we cherished and something we had to learn to adjust to. Overall, compared to our group homeschooling experience in the US, I would say that the primary schools in the European cities we joined were far less stressful. The academics seemed to get prioritized more as the kids got older. This makes me really appreciate how the lower grades focused on collaboration and coexistence.

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Excellent food - Didi

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“Excellent food” Review of Didi

Excellent food, great choice of Georgian food, very cozy and tasty. Very friendly service and good location. Excellent value for money.

Thank you for your feedback!))

• Excellent 84
• Very good 33
• Terrible 13
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• English  (23)
• Russian  (130)
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• English (23)
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16 - 20 of 166 reviews

Quite a cute place with lovely terrace, very cozy and authentic. Inside the interior is not bad either. Caucasian cuisine, quite good quality, tasty and good size portions. Prices are adequate. Service is good and efficient. Didn't see anything negative. Enjoyed my lunch. Recommend!

Thank you for your feetback! Glad to see you again))

This is a really nice unassuming restaurant with a good menu and reasonable prices. All the staff are helpful and English is spoken by several members f the staff. Worth a visit

Thanks a lot, SteveLichfield!)) Waiting for you next time!!!

A great relaxed atmosphere to try one’s hand at Georgian food. By the number of Georgian restaurants in Moscow and elsewhere, my guess is that Georgian food is a Russian favorite after their own cuisine. For those not sure of what to expect, the closest I can say is that it is very close to Turkish cuisine but with a Slavic twist. What are the stars? Well for starters the dumplings filled with mince lamb khinkali or the bread stuffed with cheese khachapuri. These are the basics you must try. But in addition to these staple, one has awesome lamb and pork stews like Kharcho for those yearning to eat a meal with a spoon. And then of course the greatest similarity to Turkish food is the grilled kebabs named Shashlik. I am not a fan of Georgian dessert. This is their only real weak point. But the appetizers and main dishes are winners and so is to opportunity to taste Georgian wine. It is not on par with French/Italian wines, but still a good wine to keep things in the Georgian spirit. The reason I gave four stars is the service is hit or mix. A bit slow and confusing and I hate it when the food does not come at the same time for all the guests. The service takes away a bit form the food. So go there for the great food, but be prepared for a mixed bag on the service side. But this is more the worth the suffering to enjoy the awesome food of Georgia.

Thank you very much for feetback! We will take into account all your comments!

The place is quite amazing in the summer: a well hidden courtyard nicely decorated. The Georgian cuisine was excellent. Made to order and well prepared in a glass kitchen. The bathroom is also worth a visit. The only problem is the service. The people are nice and apologetic all the time, but it is completely disorganized and very slow (we had a bottle of Prosecco, a few appetizers a main dish, and it took almost 3 hours and several reminders to get the drinks). It's really too bad. I hope they can fix it as it would be a shame.

Good afternoon,Barnabaix! Thank you, for leaving a review! For us it is very important! We will fix mistakes ! Hope, next time you will be satisfied!

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