Licensed taxi fleet investment 'could top HK$100mn'
Licence applications for taxi fleets ended on Friday, with an industry representative saying his group would invest more than HK$100 million in a squad of cabs. The licensed taxi fleet system is part of wider efforts to improve the service quality of point-to-point transport.  According to the government, fleets operating in urban areas should have 300 to 1,000 taxis each, whereas those in the New Territories should have 100 to 350 cabs each. And participating taxis must not be in use for more than three years when a licence is offered. Transport authorities are expected to issue a maximum of five licences. Wong Yue-ting, from the Hong Kong Tele-call Taxi Association, said he believes around eight applications were submitted before the noon deadline. On an RTHK programme, Wong said he and 12 other operators have joined hands in applying for a licence in the New Territories, in hopes of improving cab services there. He said the group would have to invest at least HK$100 million. "I estimate that, for the first six months, we would invest HK$3 million to HK$5 million in a taxi-hailing service, plus dash cameras and other systems in the vehicles," Wong said.  “As for the vehicles, we'll mostly have to replace the existing ones because many of them would have been in use for more than three years when they are licensed. I think more than 80 percent of the taxis no longer fit the requirement. Each taxi will cost about HK$400,000, which means an expenditure of HK$100 million to replace some 300 vehicles." Chow Kwok-keung, who chairs the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, said he submitted an application for a fleet of about 400 taxis.  He said mainland ride-hailing giants Didi Chuxing and Gaode had contacted him on proposing to work together.