New taxi fleets aims to brush up the image of the industry

At a roadside taxi stand in Mong Kok, Lily Ho, 42, was having a verbal altercation with a taxi driver for taking a detour.

“I have repeatedly told the driver that I am in a hurry, but the driver just ignored me and even attacked me with vulgar language,” Ho said. “I often take this route by taxi, and I am sure the driver had taken a detour.”

Ho said it was not the first time she had encountered poor service from taxi drivers.

Taxi complaints surged 51% year-on-year to 11,452 cases in 2023, with refusal for hire, driving malpractice, and joyriding being the most common, according to the Legislative Council.

However, these situations may be addressed  as a new taxi fleet is introduced which aims to provide better quality services through technology and improvement in drivers’ attitude , according to Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mable Chan. 

Cheung Chi-kwan, 65, vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi Owners’ Association, said the traditional taxi industry in Hong Kong has room for improvement, but it is undergoing changes to refresh the industry.

“In the past, the number of taxis in Hong Kong was stable, but the number of orders received has decreased significantly. 20 years ago, the daily passenger capacity was more than 1.2 million passengers, compared to just 750,000 today,” Cheung said.

The expansion of the MTR network, illegal pick-up of private car-hailing services and prejudice against the poor Hong Kong taxi service caused the sharp decline, he said.

“It was a one-way cross-harbour taxi, but the driver asked me for a round-trip fare,” said Henry Zoeng, 31, a travel blogger. “There is no surveillance inside the taxi, nor is there a unified platform to monitor driving routes and fare issues.”

“I prefer to spend more time on the subway or bus most of the time,” Zoeng added.

Cheung said poor service attitude is a problem of individual drivers and cannot represent the  whole industry. 

“The widespread negative comments online are unfair to us,” Cheung said.

Herman Chan, 38, a taxi driver, said illegal rides by Uber drivers in Hong Kong have seriously affected the healthy development of the taxi industry.

Under Hong Kong’s transport law, private cars must obtain a license before they can carry passengers. Uber’s private cars do not have such permits. 

“It is a grey area of legal regulation in Hong Kong where private cars are not regulated by current taxi regulations, and their low-cost operation and low prices seriously undermine fair competition,” Chan said.

Ben Li, 36, a part-time taxi driver, said most of the time, a ride on Uber is more expensive than taxis. But Uber has a rating system, which gives passengers a platform to complain if they encounter drivers with bad attitudes.

“Although it is illegal, the huge demand for online car-hailing services has kept the government from taking action to ban them, which is unfair to drivers who pay a lot of money for taxi licenses,” Chan said.

Chan said he knows that online ride-hailing will be a major trend in the future because of its convenience, but without obtaining a license, the interests of traditional taxi drivers and the rights of passengers are not protected.

“Our industry is rectifying chaos, but we have limited management authority after all,” Cheung said. “The handling of drivers who violate professional ethics and illegal private cars still needs to rely on the government to improve laws to strengthen unified supervision.”

Five companies, including Big Boss Taxi Company, CMG Fleet Management, Syncab Company, Sino Development (International) Company, Tai Wo Management have been selected as the five operators of taxi fleets.

About 3,500 new taxis from the five fleets will begin service from March to July, accounting for nearly 20% of all taxis in Hong Kong. Each fleet will include electric taxis, wheelchair taxis, and luxury taxis.

To ensure service quality, all fleets must provide GPS, CarLog and driver monitoring devices, online hailing services, electronic payment systems, passenger rating system, as well as customer service hotlines for passengers to select appropriate vehicle types based on their needs. 

Each fleet has different service highlights, and their service upgrades cover personalized services such as pet-friendly service and wifi coverage.

“To ensure the service quality and transparency of the taxi industry, every new taxi will be equipped with six surveillance cameras, two inside the car and four outside the car,” said Ng Kong-wai, customer service manager of Sino Development Taxi. “The GPS system in taxis will monitor drivers' driving status and the taxi's route in real time.”

Ng also said that before officially serving passengers, drivers have to go through a series of training courses, including Hong Kong taxi laws, emotional control, professional ethics and the use of translation tools.

“The government's approval of higher quality and wider range taxi fleets for operation is a great improvement. The fleet may fill the gap between Uber and existing taxis, and may also help turn around the reputation of Hong Kong's taxi service industry,” Cheung said.

Cheung said that the new fleet can help provide more refined point-to-point services, lead traditional taxis to enhance the image of the taxi industry, and strengthen passengers' confidence in taxi services.

“Time has changed, and the diversification of  services is good. We support and welcome the launch of the new fleets,” added Cheung.

In addition to service upgrades, in terms of taxi types, the five fleets have all introduced some new energy electric taxis, according to the announcement of the New Taxi Fleets License Applications.

Sino Development said they will equip 1,000 electronic taxis in order to provide environmentally friendly service.

“Hong Kong has been following green development, and new energy vehicles are the general trend of future development,” Ng said.

Ng said that they have cooperated with some mainland companies to research some advanced charging technologies. Hong Kong CLP and cooperating companies are also speeding up the improvement of charging station settings. 

“New energy vehicles have advantages in cost, but the current supporting facilities, such as charging piles in Hong Kong, are not perfect enough,” said Anthony Tang, 45, chief executive officer of Hong Kong Taxi Limited.

Tang said that so far only 10% of all taxis are  new energy taxis. The supporting facilities are already saturated. If traditional fleets continue to replace a large number of new energy vehicles, charging station resources will become even more scarce, and the taxi industry may fall into chaos.

New energy vehicles can run up to 300 kilometres on a full charge, while traditional taxis can run up to 400 kilometres. Tang said that he would not blindly follow the model of the new fleet of new energy taxis before the completion of the territory-wide charging pile facilities.

“But the new fleet’s online booking model and improved service supervision are worth learning from,” Tang said. 

“We have learned from them and have all the taxis in our dealership monitored, and we also consider developing our online booking app and learn from the management methods of Gaode and Didi in mainland China to provide better services for passengers,” he said.

Tang said that the emergence of the new fleet is a good opportunity to push the traditional taxi industry to change. 

“This is not only our responsibility but also the policy support of the government and the tolerance of every passenger,” Tang added.