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Welcoming Speeches

Keynote Speech

Mr. Robert Footman, JP, Commissioner for Transport

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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.