Opinion | The rich in Hong Kong don’t take public transport. No wonder our road policies are a mess

The government’s inability to tackle our transport problems, from road congestion and illegally parked cars to the protectionist taxi trade and haphazard system of tunnel tolls, comes down to this: the upper classes, including senior bureaucrats, love their cars

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If the definition of a developed society is one where rich people take public transport, Hong Kong remains backward, socially as well as technologically. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:00am, 31 Mar 2019Updated: 8:20am, 31 Mar 2019

Let us hope that the problems of the MTR Corporation do not reduce reliance on rail as key to urban transport. The MTR’s difficulties stem from two issues: the pressure to fast-track the Sha Tin-Central and express rail lines after a decade-and-a-half of dithering over the former. Secondly, the confusion created by the 2000 listing of the MTR Corporation, making a hermaphrodite out of what should have remained a wholly government-owned system integrated into transport planning.

But the MTR’s pains are minor compared with the policy mess on road use, where vested private-sector interests continue to stymie coherence and the use of electronics to manage and price road usage.

Let’s start with the taxis. Yes, Uber and the like have been disrupters, which can make life uncomfortable for those being disrupted. But is that not what is supposed to happen in economies not run by luddites? Most other industries, not least the media, have been drastically disrupted by technological change. So what is so special about taxis?

The answer, of course, goes back well before Uber’s appearance. It is the determination of government to protect the interests of an unworthy bunch of rentier capitalists who own the taxi (and minibus) licences. Only the government can explain why they are so influential. Scarcity has driven the price of licences up to between HK$6 million (US$760,000) and HK$7 million. Meanwhile, taxi drivers – almost all of whom rent their vehicles – have to fight hard for income. The result: antiquated vehicles and often aggressive drivers.

The answer is simple: ramp up the supply of licences. Increase the urban number by 40 per cent to 21,000 but with new ones paying an annual fee calculated as a percentage of notional income. This will open up the trade for drivers to acquire their own, new vehicles. That alone would modernise the fleet and make owner-drivers proud of their cars and service. All licensed taxis would have the choice of operating either under a fixed-rate system as currently applies, or on an Uber-type system with pricing determined on a case-by-case basis.