Why Hong Kong has an advanced relationship with taxi drivers

Enterprise proprietor Louis Ho remembers many taxi drivers in Hong Kong refusing to take him and his wheelchair-bound mom to the hospital for routine check-ups.

“I did not even want a driver to take my mother or a wheelchair. I did all the pieces myself,” mentioned the 64-year-old, whose mom died in 2018.

He’s one among many Hong Kongers who’ve tales in regards to the metropolis’s infamous taxi drivers. Should you ask them what they dislike most about Hong Kong, taxi drivers will most likely be on the prime of the listing.

The commonest complaints: Drivers are impolite, refuse rides, and sometimes take longer routes so clients must pay extra.

However now the Hong Kong Taxi Council is on a mission to alter that picture. They are going to ship “etiquette ambassadors” carrying “greatest practices” pamphlets to taxi ranks.

Does this actually assist? It will depend on who you ask.

Ryan Wong, chairman of the committee, warned {that a} marketing campaign alone wouldn’t be capable to educate impolite or misbehaving drivers – there are round 46,000 taxi drivers within the metropolis – in a single day.

However he is hopeful: “This is not the primary time we have finished this and the suggestions from drivers has been optimistic.”

Hong Kongers are extra skeptical. Interview A video of a taxi driver saying it is passengers, not drivers, who ought to be educated has gone viral within the metropolis – and lots of see it as proof that nothing will change.

A lot of them nonetheless really feel ache from their previous experiences.

Amy Ho, who’s in her 30s, mentioned she stopped taking taxis just a few years in the past after an encounter she discovered significantly disagreeable.

“I did not notice I used to be asking for a brief journey. Once I arrived at my vacation spot I used to be scrambling to get money to pay for it,” she mentioned.

“It solely took about 5 seconds for the driving force to say, ‘Auntie, may you please cease stalling? I am unable to consider you want a experience for such a brief distance and you’ll’t afford one!'”

IT worker Kenny Tong now solely takes taxis about thrice a month and would reasonably keep away from the ache as a lot as doable. To request a experience, he mentioned, he typically needed to “bow down, look ahead to the driving force to decrease the window,” and test whether or not his vacation spot was on the driving force’s route for the day.

“After I bought in, some taxi drivers complained all through the journey,” he added.

He additionally discovered it irritating when drivers did not use GPS and requested get to their vacation spot – despite the fact that that they had “a number of telephones on the dashboard”.

Most disgruntled passengers do not file a grievance as a result of it is time-consuming. Nonetheless, there have been about 11,500 complaints final yr, an 11% enhance from 2019, in accordance with the Transportation Advisory Committee. Solely a small quantity had been prosecuted.

There’s additionally the difficulty of dishonest drivers – vacationers are significantly weak.

In early July, a vacationer from the japanese Chinese language province of Zhejiang complained on social media that she gave a taxi driver HK$1,000 for HK$56 however solely acquired HK$44 ($5.60; £4.50) in change. She reported the crime to the police however was unable to get the cash again because of inadequate proof.

However the poor conduct is only a symptom of deeper issues plaguing town’s taxi business, which is fighting excessive prices, rising competitors and forms.

The town has about 18,000 taxi licenses, a quantity that has been largely capped since 1994, besides in 2016 when solely 25 licenses had been issued. Many holders view their driver’s license as an funding and lease it out to drivers.

Leong Tat-chuang, who has been a taxi driver for greater than 20 years, mentioned that license lease has been rising and {that a} driver’s 12-hour shift through the day prices about HK$500, excluding gas. Underneath regular circumstances, a driver can earn HK$500 to HK$800 a day.

“We are able to solely do extra enterprise throughout peak hours, and generally we wait 25 minutes with out even a single passenger,” he mentioned. “With the intention to make a residing, some drivers are much less affected person and fewer able to bettering service.”

He added that this was not an excuse for dangerous conduct however a “actuality” of the business.

Taxis additionally face stiff competitors from Uber, which has been massively common since getting into the Hong Kong market in 2014.

The taxi business has referred to as on the federal government to crack down on the platform, which stays unlawful within the metropolis, which they are saying is unfair as a result of Uber drivers usually are not topic to the identical legal guidelines, together with requiring particular licenses to function.

In late Could, some taxi drivers even launched a vigilante sting operation to reveal Uber drivers, however this sparked a backlash from the general public, a lot of whom mentioned they most popular the ride-hailing app exactly due to their relationship with taxi drivers. There’s a downside between the automotive drivers.

“We underestimated the influence of ride-hailing apps,” mentioned Chow Kwok-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Gentle Bus Affiliation. “Passengers are prepared to pay extra for a greater experience expertise.”

Whereas Mr Zhou opposes Uber, he admits there may be much less battle on the platform as a result of drivers can choose and select passengers and fares are agreed forward of the journey. He additionally acknowledged that the business has been gradual to adapt to on-line ride-hailing methods and digital funds. Most taxi drivers nonetheless solely settle for money.

The taxi business can also be struggling to draw new blood. The common age of drivers is near 60 years previous. In 2023, the common revenue of metropolis taxi drivers will probably be roughly HK$22,000, which is roughly 10% increased than town’s median revenue. Based on Numbeo, a web-based database on residing prices, taxi fares in Hong Kong rank forty fifth on the earth. Mr Chow mentioned the value was very low contemplating Hong Kong is an costly metropolis.

“Many individuals consider that solely poor individuals can turn out to be taxi drivers as a final resort in instances of economic problem,” Mr Liang mentioned. picture of the business.

However the metropolis’s taxi business is altering dramatically.

The demerit factors system will come into impact in September, with misconduct doubtlessly resulting in license suspension upon conviction in court docket.

A taxi fleet system is to be launched and the authority has issued 5 new licenses. It is going to enable for versatile pricing, however in return the fleet of three,500 taxis should provide on-line reserving, a private ranking system and digital funds.

For now, drivers and passengers say they’re ready to see if the adjustments will work.

“If we offer good providers, the business will develop and there will probably be extra passengers,” Mr Leong mentioned.