Under the epidemic, people’s life is difficult, but the wind keeps blowing at the end of the year, and the pockets will suffer again! The two electricity companies have implemented an increase in electricity charges on New Year’s Day next year, and various means of transportation are also queuing up to apply for fare increases. The fare will be increased by hundreds of pounds. Except for the Star Ferry, the fare of franchised buses will be increased by up to 20%. Even the fare was approved this summer The taxis with fare increase also plan to “add up after the increase”, and submit an application to the Transport Department as soon as today. The preliminary proposal is to increase the meter by 6 yuan, and it will be implemented in two years. A taxi representative in an urban area pointed out that it has been difficult to find food in recent years. The last fare increase application was not approved until five years later, and the increase was halved. He emphasized that the further fare increase is to recover the difference from the previous adjustment.
The last time taxis in Hong Kong applied for a fare increase was in September 2018. The flag-down fare was originally proposed to increase by 6 to 7 yuan, but the authorities finally approved the increase, but the increase was halved. Starting from July 17 this year, the meter will be charged at a flat rate of $3, the meter for urban taxis will be $27, the meter for taxis in the New Territories and Lantau Island will be $23.5 and $22 respectively. For short-distance and long-distance meter jumps, the fare is the same plus two cents and one cent. Urban taxis charge 1.9 yuan and 1.3 yuan per jump respectively; New Territories taxis charge 1.7 yuan and 1.3 yuan per jump respectively; Lantau taxis charge 1.7 yuan per jump. Yuan and 1.5 Yuan.
The taxi meter in the urban area may be raised to 33 yuan
Faced with the authorities cutting half of the originally proposed rate increase, the taxi industry held back for several months before finally seeking to increase the fare. The latest proposal initially increases the list price by 6 yuan, that is, the “minimum fare” of taxis in urban areas will be raised to 33 yuan. The rate is up to 22%; every time you jump the table, add about 2 cents.
Zhou Guoqiang, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Minibus Merchants Association, said that the industry will meet with the Transport Department today to apply for a fare increase. He also pointed out that the fare increase approved in July this year is too low. Falling behind” and being forced to do so, “the industry is so distressed and helpless.” However, he said that in order to prevent the public from feeling that the taxi industry is “opening its mouth”, the industry will propose two proposals, including a one-time fare increase, and a two-year increase of 3 yuan per year.
Wu Kuncheng, permanent president of the Taxi Owners Association, said that applying for a fare increase is the mainstream opinion in the industry, and the increase and details are still to be discussed. Some taxi drivers expect the government to “discount”; some drivers are concerned that short-distance passengers may suffer a larger increase. He also pointed out that there is a delay in the fare increase, and the approval usually takes two to three years. The last time the Transport Department delayed the approval for several years, it is hoped that this time it can be completed within one year.
Govt should step up crackdown on illegal carriage of passengers for reward
Wu Kuncheng also said that in recent years, there are many difficulties in the operation of the industry. For example, the insurance cost of each taxi has risen to 50,000 yuan or more, accounting for more than 40% of the driver’s income; The gas subsidy expires at the end of next month. It is expected that the monthly fuel expenses of taxi drivers will increase by more than 3,000 yuan, and the operating environment will become more and more difficult. In addition, customs clearance between China and Hong Kong has not returned to normal, and the business volume in recent months has only been 80% of that before the epidemic. It is reiterated that there is a need to increase prices.
The chairman of the Legislative Council’s Transport Affairs Committee, Chen Hengpin, believes that the taxi industry is in difficulty, and hopes that the government will step up efforts to crack down on illegally carrying passengers for payment, so as to reduce the pressure on taxi fares.
According to data from the Transport Department, due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, the average daily passenger volume of taxis in 2020 dropped sharply to 660,000. Although the figure rebounded to 762,000 last year, it was still less than the average daily passenger volume of 898,000 in 2018. 15.1%. As of August this year, the average daily passenger volume of taxis has returned to 817,000.
