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Catching a cab at some of Hong Kong’s most popular tourist attractions and busy transit hubs can be challenging at the best of times, but the introduction of new designated stops for Hong Kong’s five taxi fleets could help significantly in the near future.
Hong Kong government officials shared last week that more designated stopping places to accommodate passengers using one of the city’s new fleet taxis are in the process of being set up at the Hong Kong Palace Museum, M+, Hong Kong International Airport, and Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, adding to already existing stops such as Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Hong Kong West Kowloon Station, Kai Tak Sports Park, Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Port, Ocean Park Hong Kong, and more.
Fleet taxis are different from Hong Kong’s regular red, green, and blue cabs in that these more premium, more modern vehicles belong to one of five officially licensed taxi fleets approved by the Hong Kong government. You may have already seen them around town without knowing what they are: Joie, SynCab, Big Bee, Amigo, and Big Boss. What sets the fleet taxis apart is they must offer online hailing services, electronic payments, electronic communication channels, and driver monitoring systems for passenger safety.
Adding more designated stops for Hong Kong’s fleet taxis is one more step the Hong Kong government is taking towards modernising cab service for customers. Starting on April 1, all taxi drivers – fleet cab or otherwise – are required to offer at least two forms of electronic payment options to passengers for convenience’s sake. One of them will be a QR code option, such as Alipay, WeChat Pay, and BoC Pay, and the other will be a card or non-QR code option, such as Hong Kong’s common Octopus card, credit card, or FPS. Drivers will be required to put stickers on their vehicle windows to inform passengers which electronic payment methods are available to them. Cash, of course, continues to be an option as well but we have a feeling digital payments are going to be most people’s preferred method once widely available.
With the addition of designated stops, the city’s five taxi fleets will be able to expand their coverage network of pick-ups and drop-offs. We hope more locations will come soon to make this service more convenient for Hongkongers to get from point A to point B!
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