Cabbies get message as another cruise test looms

The Transport Department has set up an instant messaging group with the taxi sector to notify drivers to pick up tourists leaving the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, which comes as Resorts World One will bring in 2,000 passengers to Hong Kong today.

This stop-gap measure will be introduced to overcome a lack of transport at the cruise terminal that caused hundreds of cruise travellers to wait for as long as 40 minutes for taxis on Sunday.

As well, a special bus service, 22R, will be added today to take cruise passengers to Kai Tak MTR station. There will also be three more free shuttle bus services.

Resorts World One will berth at the terminal this morning. To cope, the taxi industry and the department trialed the practice at the airport and created a group on instant messaging applications.

When passengers are ready to leave the cruise terminal, they will receive notifications to allow the industry to arrange taxi services for transportation.

Earlier, the Tourism Commission proposed that after a cruise ship docks, the first 100 taxis to arrive at the terminal will receive HK$40 worth of tunnel coupons.

The next 100 taxis and the rest will receive HK$20 and HK$10 worth of coupons until all of them are all distributed.

Taxi drivers picking up passengers at the cruise terminal will also get a HK$50 LPG coupon.

Chow Kwok-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, said the waits should take no more than half an hour. "If the driver waits inside the terminal for half an hour, they would consider it a loss."

Chow was confident that if there are more cruise ships arriving, more taxi drivers would be willing to go to the cruise terminal to "give it a try."

However, he dismissed the offer of tunnel coupons as an insignificant incentive, saying what is most important is to revitalize the terminal so more people would go there.

Then, he added, drivers need not worry about fareless trips when going there.

Chow proposed free parking be provided for taxis as an additional incentive.

A tourist who took a taxi to the terminal agreed that it was easier to enter the terminal but more difficult to leave.

"We originally wanted to take a ferry but it seems there is no ferry service there."

The executive director of the Hong Kong Tourism Association, Timothy Chui Ting-pong, said cruise companies should arrange chartered buses instead.

Chui said similar transport issues had occurred at the terminal before.

At that time, he said, the cruise companies provided coach services However, due to the pandemic, the service has been suspended.

Chui said when a cruise ship docks, 2,000 to 3,000 passengers would need transportation and there would not be sufficient taxis to meet the demand.

He said that providing bus routes directly from the terminal to Tsim Sha Tsui would be preferred.