Taxi fares increase today, starting from HK$29 for urban taxis

Taxi fares in all districts will increase starting Sunday, with the starting price increasing by a flat rate of $2. Many citizens are hoping for better services, while drivers are worried that it will deter passengers.

Starting today, passengers will have to pay more to take a taxi, and a conversion table for old and new fares will be hung inside the taxi.

The starting price for taxis in urban areas has been increased from HK$27 to HK$29, and for taxis in the New Territories, it has been increased to HK$25.5.

Citizens understood the reason behind the increase and hoped that the service quality would improve, with a citizen surnamed Choi stating that there has been an increase in every aspect of reliability, and if it is a reasonable increase of around HK$1-2, then they are willing to pay.

Other citizens stated that they did not like the attitude of the drivers, as they would ignore passengers' requests, and they were not confident that this increase could improve their services.

Taxi drivers are seriously worried that this would not only deter travelers from taking taxis but that taxi owners would also increase the costs of renting taxis.

A driver surnamed Choi stated that he was worried that passengers would avoid taxis after the fare increase and believed it would be better to increase the fares during a better economy.

Another taxi driver, surnamed Fung, stated that it did not matter how much the taxi fares increased, but he was worried about the taxi owners increasing the taxi rental fees as well and thought that there were not many benefits to increasing the fare during the current economy.

The receipts from the unadjusted taxi meters will still show the old fares, and the taxi drivers will use a surcharge to show the fares after the increase.