Taxis of Hong Kong
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Taxi service in Hong Kong is one of the most efficient and convenient among major conurbations / metropolitan areas. Fares are charged according to distance travelled and waiting time, measured by a meter on board. There are surcharges for luggages and tolled tunnels and bridges. Along some restricted kerbs, there are some designated pick-up and drop-off point exclusively for taxis.
As of 2003, there are 18,138 taxis in Hong Kong, of which 15,250 are urban taxis, 2,838 are New Territories taxis, and 50 are Lantau taxis. Everyday they serve about 1.1 million, 207 900, and 1 400 people respectively.
Most taxis are independently owned and operated, but some are owned by , and the drivers are employees. These companies include:
Cars used
In the past, many different models were used as taxis. Since the 1970's, Japanese cars replaced the various European models used earlier. Among them, Toyota Crown and Nissan Cedric had always been the most popular.
Throughout history, most Hong Kong taxis have been 4-door saloons with bench seats in the front and can carry up to 5 passengers. In the early 1980's, 4-passenger taxis were introduced. Smaller saloons such as Nissan Bluebird and Mitsubishi Lancer were used. However, these were all phased out by mid-1990's. Since then, all Hong Kong taxis have been 5-passenger vehicles.
Today, almost all taxis in Hong Kong are Toyota Crown Comfort, the minority being Nissan Cedric saloons, and Australian Ford Falcon estate cars.
Fuels
Until the late 1990's, all Hong Kong taxis ran on diesel, aside from 4-passenger taxis which ran on petrol. In 1996, a few taxis that ran on LPG appeared as part of the government's test project for alternative fuel. This project proved successful, so factory-built LPG taxis have been sold instead of diesel ones since 1999. To speed up the replacement of diesel taxis with LPG ones, from mid 2000 to the end of 2003 the government offered a cash grant to each taxi owner who purchased a new LPG taxi during that period. Since August 1 2001, no more diesel taxi were allowed to be imported into Hong Kong, and from January 1st 2006, driving a diesel taxi on the streets of Hong Kong became illegal. Therefore all taxis in Hong Kong are currently running on LPG.
Types of taxis
There are three types of taxis in Hong Kong, namely, urban taxis (red), New Territories taxis (green), and Lantau taxis (blue).The reason why there are three types of taxis is to avoid having no taxi serving the less densely built-up areas of the territory, as running in the urban centre was considered much more profitable.
The red taxis have the highest fares among all, and serve all areas in Hong Kong, including Tung Chung, the Airport at Chek Lap Kok and Disneyland, except the rest of Lantau Island other than Tung Chung, the Airport and Disneyland. These taxis can only carry passengers in the Lantau or New Territories areas if the passenger(s) is / are returning to Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, or must return themselves to continue their business.
A small note is that drivers do not necessarily know all the directions in their allowed area, e.g. some drivers are more familiar to the Kowloon districts than to the Island's. They could refuse to take passengers on this basis.
The green taxis, the second most expensive, serve only parts of the New Territories, including Sai Kung, Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Fanling, Sheung Shui, Tin Shui Wai, Ma On Shan and Tai Po, except Lantau Island, Tseung Kwan O, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Chung and Tsing Yi. They are allowed to serve the taxi stands at Sha Tin Racecourse, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shun Lee Estate, Tseung Kwan O Hospital, Tsing Yi Station and Tsuen Wan Station, which are designated interchange with red taxis. Although they serve the Airport and Disneyland, they do not serve Tung Chung and the rest of Lantau.
The blue taxis run exclusively on southern Lantau Island, Tung Chung, the Airport and Disneyland.
All three types of taxis serve the Hong Kong International Airport and Disneyland.
For places where more than one type of taxis serve, there are separate queues at the taxi stands.
Detailed maps showing the service area of the three types of taxis are available at the Hong Kong International Airport and the Hong Kong Disneyland. It is also available from Transport Department's website. [link]
See also
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