Regina in LegCo quizzing officials on their reluctance to change the taxi licensing system and enable ride-hailing services to operate legally. How, she asks, can the authorities still allow speculators to hold and trade the colonial-era permits for perpetuity?
Some might be puzzled that Reg is displaying a slightly maverick view. She does occasionally have one – such as support for gay rights. And, judging from some other lawmakers’ comments, it’s not unpatriotic, seditious or whatever to criticize the official (and wishy-washy) line on this particular issue. Public opinion clearly welcomes ride-hailing services.
So she is not proclaiming herself an authentic radical and woman of the people here. Nor is she ‘jeopardizing’ her chances of ever getting to be CE. Leaving her age (73) aside, neither the office of CE nor the sort of people Beijing will pick, are what they were – and she must know that. I would guess she clings on to legislative and other positions out of self-regard more than anything else.
But we can surmise something quite specific about her. And that is that the extended Ip – or at least Lau – clan are not among those establishment families that invested in the 18,100 taxi licenses back in the old days. Those people, who have probably never touched a Toyota steering wheel in their lives, are classic rent-seekers enjoying yields perhaps comparable to those of long-term landlords sitting on multiple small properties bought decades ago.
Unlike apartments, new permits for public vehicles could be created overnight by the thousands. And that would happen, in effect, if and when Uber etc are legalized. Which might be why the bureaucrats are so desperate not to make a decision, because some – perhaps well-connected – investors are then certain to see a sharp fall in asset value and income. (The income comes from the drivers who rent the vehicles, typically on a per-half-day basis. No-one in this saga gives a damn about them.)
The officials’ big idea is to allow existing cab owners to combine and form branded ‘taxi fleets’ that would accept online booking. Net result: some current red/green taxis become cosplay ride-hailing services. Uber etc remain at best in a legal gray zone. RTHK adds…
Transport minister Lam Sai-hung said on Sunday …the administration’s study does not take the price of taxi licences into consideration, adding that officials have the overall public interest in mind…
For those of us fortunate enough to be able to huddle up next to an air-conditioner all day – HKFP talks to people working outdoors in Hong Kong’s recent heat.
On the mainland, ride hailing app Didi have their own fleet of branded cars (don’t know the lease/ownership status) in addition to the usual side hustle drivers. Taxis are also bookable via app. Most are EVs.
Hong Kong really does like to keep things oppressive for the plebs with a very, very high glass ceiling.
HK people do not want “branded taxi fleets”.
Escaping the taxis from 1980 is the whole point.
We want modern ride-hailing services that compete for our money. You know, like the developed world has had for 15 years. East meets West, my ass!
It would be so much easier and better for them and for us if the Luddites followed the British colonial example by letting the marketplace decide, but the cowardly motherfuckers haven’t the wit or the courage to do so.
“Pro-Beijing heavyweight” Maria Tam is rumoured to be among those with big investments in taxi licenses.
Recently for business I had to visit GZ – getting a taxi or a Didi was a piece of piss and the cars were either new and/or in good condition and the drivers were competent.
Here is my not exhaustive list which explains why I (we) are not satisfied with HK Taxi services:
– Cars that smell of body odour & farts
– Cars that smell of stale cigarette smoke
– Cars that are dirty / old
– Elderly drivers that veer from lane to lane or overcorrect within lanes or when going lane to lane
– Elderly drivers that have leads boots on and go gas-brake-gas-brake, gas, gas – brake all journey
– Elderly drivers who sit hunched over the steering wheel with their noses pressed up to the windscreen, making multiple unnecessary corrections leading to nausea
– Elderly drivers who give the impression they have never had a driving lesson in all their years on the planet
– Taxis that don’t want to go across the harbour
– Taxis that don’t want to hire at shift change
– Taxis that disappear when it rains
– Taxis that don’t actually want to take you to your destination as its inconvenient
– Taxis that go the least efficient route
– Taxis that will try to get the clock to tick over just one more time rather than giving a good journey that might result in a tip
– Miserable ****ing drivers that bitch and moan all ****ing journey.
That said – you do sometimes get good service in a clean cab with an excellent driver.
Wiki: “However, (Maria) Tam’s political career seemed to come to an end when she was found to be in a potential conflict of interest as she was involved in her family’s taxi company while also being a member and former chairman of the Transport Advisory Committee.
Although she eventually abandoned her shares in the company under pressure, she was not re-appointed by Governor David Wilson in the Executive and Legislative Councils after the incident. A new set of guidelines was also introduced requiring members of the councils to declare their business interests.”
So the shares were no doubt transferred to a relly.-
Look like we are stuck with the current scenario as long as she and other ‘patirotic’ cab licence holders are still ‘telling the good story’.
Meanwhile ICAC is busy on small tatie corruption like the officials who followed the 3Rs by consuming the Japanese seafood that they know, and we know, and they know that we know, was purchased as part of a political lets show the Japs 5-min charade.
What are the odds that the government decides it will only allow a couple of ride-hailing licensees and hands the keys to the castle to DiDi and a cartel of taxi-owning patriots (whose tech will fail)? Can’t be letting HKers use a service they like, can we?
> Uber loyalist,
Yes, no doubt there will be a bloated, unusable government app that forces us to share our personal details.
Let’s join hands to fuck something else up!
@Load Toad You forget the ultimate HK taxi experience, which is a farting taxi driver in a taxi with no handles to wind down the windows. Had that on a trip from Wyndham Street to North Point once, and I was clawing at the windows by the time I arrived.
Took a taxi to West Kowloon Cultural District the other Sunday and the (old) driver fell asleep at the traffic lights. A couple of years ago another driver dozed off on the way to Sai Kung; luckily the vehicle stopped in the middle of the road. Then there was the time in Sha Tin when it was evident that the cabbie had the early onset of Parkinson’s but had a knack of getting back to the right side of the road.
Maria Tam also took a quiet step back from her transport sector links when it was publicly noted that her name is an anagram of ‘I am a tram’.
Back in the day…. it was discovered that Heavy weight Maria’s brother, in the taxi trade too, was also a certified triad. That may have sealed Maria’s Exco career.
Another interesting tit-bit: Anus Ho, of Yuen Long and white T-shirts fame, and member of Legco (new style), is not an indigenous New Territories boy and doesn’t belong to any clan: he is an import. And it seems that the Heung Yee Kuk is none too pleased when Anus Ho pretends to speak on its behalf.
Lest we forget, everywhere in the world that has legal Uber-style ride-hailing services, the workers are exploited at least as badly as taxi drivers historically have been. The gig economy is as cruel and rapacious as anything capitalism has ever devised.
Also, if and when Uber is legalized in HK, fares will initially undercut regular taxis, the idea being to drive the taxi business into the ditch. When that’s accomplished, fares rise, often beyond what was previously on offer. And ride-hailers will introduce surge pricing, so if it’s raining really hard, you can expect to pay through the nose for your transport.
Regulation, you say? It is to laugh. Once the people with a stake in this (e.g., Regina) get their ducks in a row, they’ll be ensured of a smooth path to their rentier profits. The only people getting screwed will be workers and customers.
Oh, and those elderly drivers who shouldn’t still be on the road? They’re there because they can’t afford to retire.
I told you several times already that you should issue a warning before the page loads that a Vagina Rip photo is about to be shown.
The same holds for any image of Alan Semen.
The correct wording nowadays ends with VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Think of your young impressionable audience marked for life.
Or simply “NSFW” will suffice.
Like on Reddit’s “Ukraine War Videos” page which is basically gore porn of Russians and their foreign legions getting “blowed up real good” by drones.
https://youtu.be/-wf4exIiQr8