{"id":2427,"date":"2024-08-13T03:21:03","date_gmt":"2024-08-13T03:21:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/?p=2427"},"modified":"2024-08-13T03:21:03","modified_gmt":"2024-08-13T03:21:03","slug":"why-hong-kong-has-a-sophisticated-relationship-with-taxi-drivers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/why-hong-kong-has-a-sophisticated-relationship-with-taxi-drivers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Hong Kong has a sophisticated relationship with taxi drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Many Hong Kongers have a narrative of a nasty cabbie expertise<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Business proprietor Louis Ho remembers how so lots of Hong Kong’s taxi drivers refused to take him and his mom – who was a wheelchair person – to hospital for routine check-ups.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t even need the driver to carry my mum or the wheelchair. I did everything myself,\u201d says the 64-year-old whose mom handed away in 2018.<\/p>\n

He is one in all many Hong Kongers who’ve a narrative to inform about their metropolis’s notorious cabbies. Ask them what they like least about Hong Kong, and taxi drivers will doubtless be excessive on the checklist.<\/p>\n

The most typical complaints: drivers are impolite, refuse to just accept rides and infrequently take longer routes so prospects must pay extra.<\/p>\n

But now the Hong Kong Taxi Council is on a mission to rework this picture. They will despatch \u201ccourtesy ambassadors\u201d armed with “best-practice” pamphlets to taxi stands. <\/p>\n

Will that actually assist? That relies on who you ask.<\/p>\n

A single marketing campaign can not college impolite or misbehaving drivers in a single day – there are about 46,000 cabbies within the metropolis, cautions Ryan Wong, the chairman of the council.<\/p>\n

But he’s hopeful: “This is not the first time that we have done this, and the feedback from drivers has been positive.”<\/p>\n

Hong Kongers are extra sceptical. An interview clip of a taxi driver saying that passengers, slightly than drivers, are those to be educated has gone viral within the metropolis – many level to it as proof that nothing will change.<\/p>\n

Many of them are additionally nonetheless smarting from previous experiences. <\/p>\n

Amy Ho, in her 30s, mentioned she stopped taking taxis a couple of years in the past after an encounter that she discovered significantly disagreeable. <\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t realise I had asked for a very short journey. As soon as I reached the destination, I scrambled for cash to pay,” she says. <\/p>\n

“It was merely five seconds or so, and the driver said, \u2018Can you stop dragging on, auntie? I can\u2019t believe you need a ride for such a short distance and you can\u2019t even afford it!’.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Hong Kong has about 40,000 cab drivers within the metropolis<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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IT employee Kenny Tong now solely take a cab about thrice a month, preferring to keep away from the ordeal the place he can. To hail one, he says, he usually has to \u201cbow, wait for the driver to lower the car window\u201d and verify if his vacation spot is on the driving force’s route for the day. <\/p>\n

\u201cSome taxi drivers grumble throughout the journey after I have boarded,\u201d he provides.<\/p>\n

He additionally finds it irritating when drivers don’t use GPS and ask him methods to attain the vacation spot \u2013 despite the fact that they’ve \u201cmultiple phones on the dashboard\u201d.<\/p>\n

Most disgruntled passengers don’t file complaints as a result of it is time-consuming. Still, there there have been about 11,500 complaints final yr – a 11% enhance from 2019, in line with the Transport Advisory Committee. Only a tiny fraction had been prosecuted. <\/p>\n

Then there may be the issue of dishonest drivers – with vacationers particularly weak.<\/p>\n

In early July, a customer from the China’s jap province of Zhejiang took to social media to complain that she was solely given HK$44 ($5.6; \u00a34.5) in change after giving a cabbie HK$1,000 for a HK$56 journey. She reported the incident to the police, however couldn\u2019t get her a refund due to inadequate proof.<\/p>\n

But poor behaviour is barely a symptom of the deeper points that beset town\u2019s taxi business, which is scuffling with excessive prices, elevated competitors and forms.<\/p>\n

There are about 18,000 taxi licenses within the metropolis, and this quantity has been largely capped since 1994, aside from 2016 when simply 25 licenses had been issued. Many holders see the licenses as an funding and lease them to drivers. <\/p>\n

Leung Tat Chong \u2013 who has labored as a taxi driver for greater than twenty years \u2013 says the lease of the licenses has saved rising and a driver has to pay about HK$500 for a 12-hour daytime shift \u2013 which doesn’t embody gas. On a typical day, a driver could make HK$500 to HK$800.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can only do more business during rush hours, and sometimes we wait for up to 25 minutes and there is not even one single passenger,\u201d he says. \u201cTo make a living, some drivers are not as patient and they have no capacity to improve their services.\u201d <\/p>\n

This isn’t an excuse for poor behaviour, he provides, however the \u201creality\u201d of the business.<\/p>\n

Taxis additionally face intense competitors from Uber which has been vastly in style since its entry into the Hong Kong market in 2014. The firm says half of town\u2019s 7.5 million inhabitants have used it no less than as soon as. <\/p>\n

The taxi business has known as on the federal government to crack down on the platform, which stays formally unlawful within the metropolis, arguing that it’s unfair as a result of Uber drivers are usually not subjected to the identical legal guidelines – together with needing particular licences to run.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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File picture of taxi drivers protesting in opposition to Uber<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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In late May, some taxi drivers even launched a vigilante sting operation to reveal Uber drivers \u2013 however that attracted backlash from the general public, lots of whom say they like the journey hailing app exactly due to the problems they’ve with cab drivers. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe underestimated the impact of ride-hailing apps,\u201d says Chau Kwok-keung, the chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association. \u201cPassengers are willing to pay more for a better riding experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mr Chau is in opposition to Uber, he concedes that there are fewer conflicts on that platform as a result of drivers can choose the passengers and fares are agreed earlier than the journey. He additionally admits that the business has been gradual to adapt to on-line hailing programs and digital cost. Most taxi drivers nonetheless solely settle for money.<\/p>\n

The taxi business additionally struggles to draw new blood. The common age of drivers is near 60. Mr Chau argues that the dearth of prospects is a crucial issue, as taxi fare has solely been raised 4 instances previously decade. In 2023, the typical earnings of an city taxi driver was about HK$22,000, about 10% greater than town\u2019s median earnings. Hong Kong ranks forty fifth by way of taxi fare on the planet, in line with living-cost on-line database Numbeo. Mr Chau says it\u2019s very low contemplating Hong Kong is an costly metropolis.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany think that only poor people become cabbies, and it\u2019s the last resort when one meets financial difficulties,\u201d says Mr Leung, who thinks that the federal government ought to tighten necessities and supply extra coaching for taxi drivers to enhance the occupation\u2019s picture.<\/p>\n

But huge adjustments are afoot for town\u2019s taxi business.<\/p>\n

A demerit-point system will take impact in September, and misbehaviour may result in a license suspension after a courtroom conviction.<\/p>\n

A taxi fleet system can be launched and authorities have issued 5 new licenses. It will enable versatile pricing, however in return, these fleets, which embody 3,500 taxis, have to supply on-line reserving, private score programs and digital cost.<\/p>\n

For now, drivers and passengers say they’re ready to see if these reforms can take maintain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we provide good service, the industry will grow and there will be more passengers,\u201d says Mr Leung.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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[ad_1] Getty Images Many Hong Kongers have a narrative of a nasty cabbie expertise Business proprietor Louis Ho remembers how so lots of Hong Kong’s taxi drivers refused to take him and his mom – who was a wheelchair person – to hospital for routine check-ups. \u201cI didn\u2019t even need the driver to carry my […] More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2428,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[125],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2427"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2429,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2427\/revisions\/2429"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2427"},{"taxonomy":"adace-sponsor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clickmen.us\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/adace-sponsor?post=2427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}