It is widely accepted that taxi fare regulation in Hong Kong has been adopted for
a long time without posing serious problems. The government and most of the taxi
operators and passengers are used to such a regulatory measure. Nevertheless, a series
of economic downturn and fierce competition among various public transport modes
and within the taxi trade have emerged in the recent decades. These have gradually
changed this mindset. Some people start to question whether fare regulation is the best
option. Even Transport Advisory Committee supports that Hong Kong should, in the
long run, adopt a more flexible fare system which should allow taxi operators to set
their own fare. Against this background, this dissertation is conducted with a view to
answering a question: “to what extent should the taxi fare system in Hong Kong be
regulated or de-regulated”.
With a view to providing recommendations on the future taxi fare policy, this
dissertation examines thoroughly the theoretical principles and foreign experiences in
taxi fare regulation and de-regulation. Local market structure and public perception
(including the government, taxi operators and passengers) of fare regulation /
de-regulation are also explored to see if the theories and overseas experiences are
applicable to Hong Kong. This is a pioneering study on the feasibility of fare
de-regulation in Hong Kong. The study results should be significant and should point
a direction to the future of how to tackle the above question.
Overall, the dissertation shows that the concept of fare regulation is deep-rooted
in the mind of the general public. The government and taxi operators are very
resistant to fare semi-regulation (i.e. maximum and/or minimum fare) and
de-regulation on the grounds of potential cut-throat competition and adverse social
impacts, e.g. overcharging and consumer’s confusion. While taxi passengers are
generally worried about the loss of legal protection and fairness of charging secured
by the regulation. However, theoretical principles and foreign experiences do prove
some fruitful results that can be achieved by fare semi-regulation / de-regulation. For
instance, the availability of more price options and service improvements are
beneficial to customer welfare while the possible rise of fare level is favourable to the
business of operators.
To strike a balance between different interests, this dissertation recommends that
Hong Kong should adopt a taxi fare regulation in the form of a combination of
maximum and minimum fare. That is, a price ceiling and floor are prescribed by the
government and taxi operators are allowed to set their fare level within this range. The
only requirement for the operators is to file the fare to the government for record
purpose as and when the fares are changed. These fares should be widely publicized
before implementation.
To save the effort by customers to ascertain and compare the prices, it is
suggested that all taxi operators are required to be affiliated to radio-dispatched
centers (DCs). DCs will take up the role of fare setting and all subordinated taxis must
follow suit. The government should closely monitor the level of maximum and
minimum fares and make necessary adjustments in response to market conditions. / published_or_final_version / Transport Policy and Planning / Master / Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:HKU/oai:hub.hku.hk:10722/167200 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Wong, Ping-cheung., 黃炳祥. |
| Publisher | The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong) |
| Source Sets | Hong Kong University Theses |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | PG_Thesis |
| Source | http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B48194062 |
| Rights | The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works., Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License |
| Relation | HKU Theses Online (HKUTO) |
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