Hong Kong issues 5 taxi fleet licences, with 1,500 new cabs expected to provide enhanced services within a year
Hong Kong Free Press
The government has issued taxi fleet licenses to five companies, including local taxi operators and new joint ventures in the transport industry, with an aim of enhancing taxi services amid criticism.
Transport chief Angela Lee told the press on Wednesday afternoon that the five companies had scored highest among the 15 applications received, and that they had been asked to officially launch their taxi fleets by next July.
A total of 3,500 cabs, around 20 per cent of the city’s cabs, will be run by these five operators, Lee continued. Of those vehicles, 1,500 new ones will be launched by July next year and the remaining put into services gradually should be less than three years’ old.
The five licensed operators are Big Boss Taxi Company, CMG Fleet Management, Sino Development (International) Company, SynCab Service, and Tai Wo Management.
“The selected applicants are not only traditional taxi operators, but also groups formed by taxi operators and taxi driver associations or other members of the transport sector,” Lee said on Wednesday.
“By playing an exemplary and leading role in the trade, the taxi fleets can help boost passengers’ confidence in the taxi services, thereby gradually improving the development prospect for the trade.”
Hong Kong announced plans to launch taxi fleets, a regulatory new regime designed to enhance taxi services, last July as part of a series of steps to reform taxi services.
According to authorities, a fleet should include 300 to 1,000 urban taxis, or 100 to 350 taxis in the New Territories. Each taxi in a fleet must be less than three years old, offer e-payment options, and and install surveillance cameras. At least 10 per cent of the fleet must be barrier-free taxis accessible to people with disabilities.
Licensed taxi fleets will be able to charge passengers point-to-point or metered fares, plus a booking fee.
SynCab: 120 brand-new cabs by end of year
Following Wednesday’s announcement, nine-year-old taxi operator SynCab said in a statement that the company hoped to offer passengers better services with its fleet of 500 cabs, including 50 barrier-free taxis and 350 new “luxury electric taxis.”
Unlike existing taxis, which are red in urban areas, green in the New Territories and blue on Lantau Island, taxi fleets can apply their own design on the car body to help passengers identify them. Syncab’s taxis will be white and red.
Sonia Cheng, executive director of SynCab, said the company planned to launch some of its electric taxis in September, adding that the fleet will have 120 brand-new cabs on Hong Kong’s roads by the end of the year.
If a passenger hails a luxury electric taxi on the street, the trip will be charged by the meter, Cheng said. Booking such a vehicle will add a fee of 10 to 25 per cent more.
“Hong Kong has always been a highly competitive place. Hong Kongers are very skilled at discerning the market. As long as we perform well enough, passengers will know and appreciate it,” Cheng said in the Chinese statement. “We firmly believe that in the days to come, passengers will rediscover their appreciation for Hong Kong’s quality taxi services.”
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