Welcoming Speeches
Keynote Speech
Mr. Robert Footman, JP, Commissioner for
Transport
I would like to welcome you all to this forum,
particularly our guests from Japan, Singapore,
Shanghai, Shenzhen and Macao. We have an exciting
subject, and speakers and experience from
many different places.
Taxis are in the service industry. In Hong
Kong, they perform a vital role, carrying
some 1.3 million passengers a day, or 12%
of our daily public transport patronage. In
our 1999 passenger satisfaction survey, taxis
scored 70 from local passengers, and 76 from
tourists. These are really quite good marks,
but the taxi trade cannot stand still. You
face increasing competition from other modes,
where levels of comfort and convenience are
getting better and better in both public and
private transport.
In the past year or so, under the Quality
Taxi Services Steering Committee, the taxi
associations have worked with the Transport
Department to help promote better service.
We have introduced a newsletter for the trade,
organized two taxi driver award schemes, launched
the Workplace English and Putonghua Programme,
encouraged the trade to use talking taximeters
and to install the Braille plate to serve
passengers with disabilities. Separately,
we have also developed various schemes including
taxi drop-off points and lifting many stopping
restrictions. We shall be testing a pilot
taxi pick-up and drop-off point scheme in
March to further strengthen the role of taxis
in providing point-to-point service. All these
take time to implement, but the purpose is
clear - to develop better taxi services which
meet the increasing expectations of the community.
Looking ahead, one thing is clear. Like any
other service business, the taxi trade must
keep up with the times. It must compete to
survive and prosper. In the 21st century this
means vehicles must be up to date, kept in
good condition for customers, and well maintained
to meet environmental needs. And, just like
any other business, the front line staff must
be of the highest standard. Taxi drivers have
a tough job. To perform well, they need a
lot of knowledge, and they must drive well
and safely. They also need help and guidance
from leaders in the trade, as well as a positive
mind set that wants to serve their passengers.
Quality must be the watchword. "Ching man
hui bin?" means "where do you want to go?"
Transport Department has produced a short
film "Super Cabbies" for this forum, I hope
you liked that short film. We all enjoyed
making it, and it certainly helped me to understand
better just how difficult it is to provide
high quality taxi service. Life looks very
different from behind the wheel of a taxi!
The video was a mixture of dreams and reality.
The purpose of this forum is for us all to
think about the future direction for taxi
services in Hong Kong, perhaps to dream a
bit, but also to think about what we can make
real in the next year and beyond.
I look forward to continuing to work with
the taxi associations to develop a vision
for the future, and to make that vision reality.
In conclusion, I wish this forum a brilliant
success.
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