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Kahon Chan

Hong Kong’s first premium taxi fleet is set to launch in March, one of the five licensed operators has told the Post, with lawmakers urging the government to ensure a smooth roll-out of the service aimed at improving standards in an industry beset with complaints.
Tai Wo Management confirmed its roll-out plan on Friday while pointing to “numerous challenges” it had overcome in the five months since receiving its license allowing it to charge higher fares than regular cabs.
But a trade representative said that from his understanding, licence holders were still struggling to meet requirements and overcome challenges in procurement and manpower.
Tai Wo said it expected to put its fleet into service in March after overcoming several hurdles.
“Our brand new six-passenger Maxus Mifa 7 electric taxis have been shipped to Hong Kong and are being trialled … we are also recruiting fleet drivers and customer service specialists,” managing director Aaron Ng Hoi-shan said.
“Our mobile app online booking platform is also ready and is currently undergoing final testing to optimise the ride-booking experience and electronic payment process. The above preparations are progressing smoothly and the fleet is expected to officially enter service in March.”
The company did not specify the number of taxis that would begin offering service in March.
SynCab, a fleet operator owned by Chung Shing Taxi, initially said it could begin service last September. It said in December that some of its new Maxus cabs had started operating as regular taxis and a booking app would be available in February.
The other three operators are Big Boss Taxi Company, CMG Fleet Management and Sino Development (International) Company.
The government required winning bidders to launch services with vehicles accounting for about 40 per cent of the entire fleet by the end of July.
The operators can set booking fees that are higher than the regulated rate for ordinary taxis, but they are also required to offer online bookings, e-payment options and complaint handling mechanisms.
Legislator Michael Tien Puk-sun said the government should consider allowing operators to begin services after July if doing so would guarantee a smoother start.
“Taxi fleets are a new operating model. In addition to the fleet of vehicles itself, operators will also have to sort out insurance, lending and vendor arrangements,” he said.
“It’s more important to do it well rather than rush it through, and I’d rather have them work slowly and deliver a fine product than attract numerous complaints upon launch.”
Lawmaker Gary Zhang Xinyu said the effectiveness of the scheme would only be known when all the fleet vehicles were on the road.
“Only when the entire fleet is put into operation can we really see whether they can deliver an improvement in service quality and capacity, and only then can [the fleet] provide us with effective indicators for policy formulation,” he said.
The target launch date was revealed by Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan in a newspaper interview.
But Ng Kwan-sing, permanent president of the Taxi Dealers and Owners Association, told the Post that he was sceptical about the minister’s launch date, as he had learned that fleet operators were facing financing difficulties due to the mandate of using cabs that were three years or younger.
With the licence also requiring a quarter of each operator’s fleet to be electric taxis, he said they had been struggling to find the right types of vehicles that stood out from the competition, as only a handful of options were readily available.
“If a player chooses a six-seater, others might want to look for SUVs or another type that is handsome and represents greater value, so they can differentiate from others and have a selling point,” he said.

Ng Kwan-sing added that it was also taking time for the fleet operators to put together their own mobile app or negotiate partnership deals with existing platforms, while the recruitment of drivers was a challenge.
“The government [official] may be expressing an aim to do a good job, but if we delve deeper into this aim, we can see there are dozens of matters that need to be sorted out,” Ng said.
“A couple of operators are very keen to put a large number of vehicles into operation in a short period of time – perhaps in February and March – to demonstrate their uniqueness to everyone. But the situation is not as simple as you and I imagine.”
Chan also suggested a transport advisory board would meet online ride-hailing companies next month ahead of planned new regulatory framework in the summer.
Ben Chan Hang-pan, chairman of the Legislative Council’s transport panel, said authorities should use the opportunity to look into different business models of ride-hailing platforms, as he hoped future legislation could have the flexibility to accommodate a variety of operations.


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News

Hong Kong

Transport

Tai Wo Management confirms its roll-out plan while pointing to ‘numerous challenges’ it has overcome in five months since winning licence, along with four others


Tai Wo Management confirms its roll-out plan while pointing to ‘numerous challenges’ it has overcome in five months since winning licence, along with four others.


Hong Kong taxis

Hong Kong economy

Hong Kong’s first premium taxi fleet set to launch in March

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Tai Wo Management confirms its roll-out plan while pointing to ‘numerous challenges’ it has overcome in five months since winning licence, along with four others

Tai Wo Management confirms its roll-out plan while pointing to ‘numerous challenges’ it has overcome in five months since winning licence, along with four others