- Social unrest has taken a toll on industry, taxi group says, with some drivers avoiding protest areas or simply staying home
- Subsidies would go toward upgrading older cabs for energy efficiency and wheelchair accessibility
Hong Kong's embattled taxi industry on Monday called on the government to push through a long-sought fare increase and roll out subsidies that would underwrite upgrades to older cabs, saying the city's months of social unrest had taken a harsh toll on the sector.
The appeal by the Hong Kong Taxi Council, an alliance of 17 groups comprising owners, drivers and other stakeholders, came at a press conference trumpeting the results of a survey that showed nearly 78 per cent of people are generally satisfied with the city's taxi service.
Commissioned by the council and conducted by Hang Seng University, the December poll of 1,200 taxi passengers, however, indicated a sharp downturn in satisfaction on protest days, with the percentage of satisfied customers dropping from 78 to 67 per cent.
While the survey produced an average score of 65.7 out of 100, and highlighted general satisfaction with taxi cleanliness and driver knowledge of destinations and traffic conditions, more than 60 per cent of respondents took issue with long waiting times at taxi ranks and the difficulty of hailing a taxi from the street.
The industry has long grappled with the double dilemma of an ageing workforce and a reputation battered by complaints of drivers overcharging, taking unnecessarily long routes and cherry-picking or refusing fares.
Speaking at Monday's press conference, taxi council chairman Hung Wing-tat said the fare increase and greater government assistance " specifically, a HK$60,000-per-cab subsidy toward upgrading older taxis " were both badly needed for the industry to improve service and attract new blood.
"At present, close to 40 per cent of the city's 18,000 taxis are more than 10 years old. They are not comfortable. In other international cities such as Singapore or New York, they impose a time limit of six to eight years for taxis operating on the road. The government should subsidise the old taxis to be upgraded to an energy-saving model that is wheelchair accessible," he said.
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He pointed out that the taxi sector had applied for the requested fare hike in September 2018, but had yet to receive any news from the government.
The sector is asking for a 20.39 per cent rise in flag fall on urban taxis " which serve Kowloon and Hong Kong Island " to HK$30 (US$3.82). Taxis serving the New Territories are seeking a 22.89 per cent jump in flag fall, to HK$26.5, and Lantau Island taxis a 25.71 per cent jump to HK$26.
The planned increases are much higher than last fare increase approved, in April 2017, when urban taxi flag falls went up by 9.98 per cent.
Ng Kwan-sing, the council's vice-chairman, said the taxi business had sunk to an "unbearable" level during the past seven months of social unrest thanks to the blockage of roads by anti-government protesters and the dramatic drop in the number of tourists.
"Some cabbies prefer to rest during protest days or refrain from going to the protest zones out of concern for their personal safety," he said.
According to government statistics, Hongkongers took an average of 889,000 taxi journeys a day in 2018. In October, when the city was hard hit by escalating political turmoil, the number of daily taxi rides dropped to 824,000 a day, down by about 7 per cent.
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