Please read the submission of SLLG on the taxi services review:
Dear Sirs,
Our organisation, the South Lantau Liaison Group, that monitors and defends the interests of Lantau residents would like to react on the quality of taxi services on Lantau in general, as well as South Lantau in particular. Also, remarks on the service of taxis for residents and visitors of Lantau at the Central Ferry Pier in front of pier 5/6 will be covered.
1. Are you satisfied with the existing uniform mode of charging based on travelling mileage, waiting time and other additional services provided for taxi services in Hong Kong
Dissatisfied
Why?
In general for the Hong Kong situation, Hong Kong taxis expensive, if compared with bus services.
Taxi drivers hardly speak any other language but Cantonese. If you tell them a street or building name in English, they are not familiar with it, unless a few regular drivers on Hong Kong Island. Even if you point out on a street map or talk with the taxi central operation centre, it takes them a lot of time to figure out where to go. Map-reading skills are very low and as a result travelling by bus can bring passengers closer to their target, planned via centamap.com. Also bus drivers are quite friendly and willing to help. More bus drivers have been found speaking English than taxi drivers.
Personally, moreover, during the past ten years of residence in Hong Kong, I hardly came across a taxi driver who drove me straight to the destination. In other words, thinking he could abuse the lack of street knowledge of the passenger. When I showed I knew better, there came the apologies and sometimes a discount for having driven to far around.
On Lantau, and I will write later about the structural problems there, but we have to share a case about a resident who submitted to us that after a long time residence, he occasionally (already having been discouraged by their poor service) had to use their services. When he broke his ankle and was wheel-chair bound, he had to go one time to the clinic for a check-up of the ankle and called the Lantau Taxi Centre to ask the taxi for the next morning. They told him they charged HKD 17 for ordering a taxi. This seems to be a common practice. More about the Lantau taxi later. By the way, many complaints by residents have been submitted to the Citizen's Hotline and the Transport Department has failed to do anything (including investigation) over the past 10 years. Their perception of 'doing something' is sending a letter to the Lantau Taxi Centre and that's the end of the case.
2. What kind of changes or improvements can be made? (The following are examples of taxi fare regulatory approaches adopted by the governments of the cities mentioned above. They do not represent the position of TAC. Comments and suggestions from the trade and the public are most welcome) :
- The upper limits of the flagfall fare and incremental charges are prescribed by the Government. Taxi operators are required to seek approval from the Government in case they wish to charge at a level below the ceiling or introduce other modes of charging. They must charge at the level approved by the Government. If the operators wish to change their own fares, they may also seek approval from Government for fare revision at any time.
Others, please specify :
The Government should supervise operation and taxi charges. However, taxis should be able to roam around with bus terminuses to look for/solicit passengers who missed their last bus, like is already being done in Tung Chung at night by red taxis. This way, taxi drivers can optimalize their operational costs and it also will use gas more economically.
3. Taking into account overseas legislation governing fare bargaining by passengers and the situation in Hong Kong, what are your views on fare bargaining by passengers?
We are of opinion that fare bargaining must be possible. This would be a more flexible system for taxi drivers, who still want to pick up passengers and make more money. Also, it would be a more economical use of taxi services. It is still up to the taxi driver how much the discount would be.
Mode of service
4. Apart from fare charging mechanism, are you satisfied with the existing mode of taxi services in Hong Kong (for example, uniform vehicle type of taxis and chartered service)?
Very dissatisfied
Why?
When we talk about the blue Lantau taxis, the system implemented is absolutely insufficient for residents and tourists.
First of all, there are only 50 taxis for an area that is two times the size of Hong Kong Island. However, normally 10 of those taxis have a rest day, so 40 remain in service. Of that number, normally 30 are in operation in Tung Chung/Disneyland which has more residents than South Lantau. So, 10 taxi are left to service South Lantau/Tai O.
This is an absolutely unfair situation with 10 taxis left for a stretch from Mui Wo area to Tai O. As a result there are many excesses of situations about which residents have complained:
- in Pui O, if you want to hail a taxi, you need to stand on the side in the direction of Tung Chung (south bound). If you stand on northbound (direction Mui Wo), taxi drivers will ignore you and turn around to southbound, even though available.
- in the evening - Monday to Friday - taxis at the taxi stand in Mui Wo are present within about 10-15 minutes after the ferry from Central has arrived. If later in the evening, from about 9 or 10pm, if lucky, 1 taxi may service the Ferry Pier taxi stand after the arrival of a ferry. Ferries arrive until about 1 am, so this shows how poor the service frequency is.
- If someone calls the Lantau Taxi Centre in the evening, in the absence of a taxi at the ferry piers, he is asked from where to his destination which is broadcast over the taxi intercom. Normally, if it is a short distance, no taxi will respond (even though the passenger can see some available taxis driving around). Therefore, street-smart residents have to lie about it and say they want to go from Mui Wo to Tung Chung. Within 5 minutes there is a taxi picking up the passenger. Then they tell the taxi driver where they want to get off. This is the game that has been going on.
- If on a normal working day at a normal working hour, residents want to take a taxi, even though short distance, and even mentioned that they are wheel-chair bound or handicapped, no service is provided, even though plenty of available taxis are driving around.
- During weekends and public holidays, one can observe long lines of recreational tourists who want to go to the beach in Pui O or Cheung Sha. They come with beach accessories, including boards and dogs. The taxi is the only means for people with dogs to go places on Lantau and they have a right to enjoy recreation on Lantau.
In short: the area is too large to be covered by 40 taxis that service Lantau residents and tourists.
Also, SLLG, would like to draw the attention of the Transport Advisory Committee, that the Planning Department and CEDD are conducting a feasibility study into the plans for the Mui Wo Facelift in context of the Lantau Development Plan. For the Mui Wo Facelift, a budget of 280 million HKD has been reserved. That means that all departments, including the Transport Department, should facilitate a South Lantau area that is more attractive to tourists and residents (including potential residents) to visit and live.
Currently the Lantau Taxi Services are unsatisfactory, disappointing and insufficient.
It is suggested to have the relevant Governmental departments to monitor the situation more closely, since the lack of supervision and indifference by the Transport Department to complaints have led to the poor level of customer service. A report by an independent transport consultant that investigates among stakeholders, should be conducted if complaints still continue. If necessary, the Transport Department should consider to open Lantau up to the red and green taxis (option 1) or limit the service scope of the blue taxi to for example an area that could compare with the Lantau constituency (according to the Island District) and making Lantau blue taxis only airport-South Lantau and Tung Chung MTR-South Lantau bound (option 2)
5. Do you want to see changes or improvements by means of introducing alternative modes of taxi services (for example, different vehicle types such as premier taxis, and fixed-fare taxi services for different regions or for specific locations and routes) to provide more choices for the
passengers?
Yes
Any suggestions?
A suggestion for the Lantau Taxis is to set up a system that was operating in Discovery Bay, where several passengers share the taxi in a bigger van and sharing destinations.
Another possibility is to let taxis share by passengers in the same direction and only leave when the taxi is full (like car pooling).
Service quality
6. Are you satisfied with the quality of taxi services in Hong Kong ( for example, the attitude of drivers and the facilities inside taxi cabins)?
Very dissatisfied
Why?
Above-mentioned examples tell enough about the insufficient taxi services.
Additionally, the SLLG would like to draw attention to the taxi arrangements for residents and tourists to and from the ferry piers, particularly ferry pier 6 to South Lantau/Mui Wo.
Firstly the tourists and occasional taxi passengers are totally unfamiliar with the fact that different taxi stands at the ferry piers serve different parts of Hong Kong: HK Island, Kowloon/N.T. This has not been clearly indicated.
Secondly, it has been observed by regular ferry passengers arriving at the Central Ferry Pier from Mui Wo at 7.30 am that the taxi services for Hong Kong Island are insufficient. People have to sprint from the ferry to almost fight to catch the waiting 1 or 2 taxis.
Thirdly, the lane closest to the ferry pier 6 is used by taxis to speed without disregard to the frequently crossing passengers from and to the piers who are in a hurry trying to catch either buses or ferries. This includes many students, primary and secondary, often unaccompanied. That lane should be provided with obstacles to slow down traffic. Also official zebra-crossings should be installed from the ferry piers so that taxis are not blocking the way of people coming from and going to the ferries, as is done now as a habit by the many inconsiderate taxi drivers.
Please refer to the photos.
Photos 1 and 2 were made on May 18, 2007 subsequently within 1 minute. Photo 5 was made at the same moment before and shows people walking/running for the ferry, while the whole area being blocked by vehicles.
Photos 3 and 4 were made 21 February 2006 within a minute as well.
7. In which aspect(s) do you think improvement is needed?
As suggested above.
Last but not least, should the matters be discussed in the Legislative Council, the South Lantau Liaison Group would like to be invited to participate as a stakeholder.
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