Burden of long wait swings to taxi drivers

Connectivity to and from Kai Tak Cruise Terminal were improved as cruise ship Resorts World One docked yesterday, but this time it was the turn of taxi drivers to express anger over having been drawn to the premises even when there were no passengers.

The government has added a new Citybus R22 route taking tourists to the Kai Tak MTR station, as well as three free shuttle routes to popular destinations like Tsim Sha Tsui.

Authorities also gave out HK$50 fuel vouchers to cabbies as an attraction to pick up passengers at the terminal after long queues for transport were seen in previous days. Some 287 vouchers were given away by around 10.30am.

Tourists only needed to wait for a few minutes to get on buses or taxis, prompting cabbies to say they waited for 40 minutes to pick up a fare.

"The HK$50 voucher is useless - we did not come to the terminal just to pick up a voucher," a cabbie said. "I didn't know whether a ship docked but I heard there were passengers waiting for taxis [so I went to the terminal]."

Another cabbie said taxis should only go to the terminal whenever tourists arrive as it is usually quiet and empty.

"Many taxi drivers have left as the vouchers have all been distributed," said another taxi driver. "We had to wait for 40 minutes just to get to the taxi station."

Commissioner for Tourism Vivian Sum Fong-kwang said the new Citybus route 22R transported 290 tourists from the terminal to the Kai Tak MTR station.

She said eight shuttle buses set off as of 10.30am, heading toward tourist hotspots in Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and Hong Kong Island.

Travelers said the queue at the bus stops cleared quicker than usual.

Citybus head of service delivery Louis Kung Syu-yan said its bus routes served some 400 passengers as of 11am.

The bus company is also planning to extend route 20A to pass through the cruise terminal and open a new route 20X to run between the cruise terminal and Tsim Sha Tsui.

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said the overall operation was smooth.

He admitted that making tourists wait for a long time after alighting their cruise ship will affect their experience in Hong Kong, and so it was a matter in which the government "heavily intervened."

Yeung added: "When we designed the cruise terminal over 10 years ago, we didn't aim to build it into a shopping mall.

"As we're developing the whole Kai Tak area, we should review the cruise terminal's function and see how we can improve it."

Meanwhile, former transport minister Frank Chan Fan dismissed claims that the traffic problem at the terminal is related to insufficient planning during his term. He said authorities should have made appropriate traffic arrangements before big cruise ships arrive in Hong Kong.

wallis.wang@singtaonewscorp.com