I’m always curious why cabbies are obsessed with stomping on their breaks – the unnecessary, excessive and non stop type.
Are they trying to exercise their toes? Or trying kill a roach hidden in their shoe? Or tapping to a really cool beat? Or they think it’s fun to make their passengers feel sick? Whatever it is, I really hate to have my breakfast come rushing back out on my way to work almost every morning.
Anyway, everytime I encounter one of these (too frequently) I think of this:
On July 10th, minimum fares of taxis around Hong Kong will see an increase of up to 15%. Red cabbies will start at $20, while blue and red cabbies will start at $15 and $16.5 respectively. Luckily, the fare for waiting time and subsequent distances will remain the same. What does this mean? You can bet it doesn’t mean better service or attitude. It means we will be paying even more to get abused by drivers in the future.
The urban legends are TRUE!!!! There really are taxis on the road that take Octopus cards!!!! Identify them by that little Octopus logo sticker on the windshield! (you know, the little fuzzy yellow bit on the photo) Probably only 5 out of every 500 taxis are Octopus enabled but STILL!!! No more handling with dirty dollar bills from the cabbie (god knows where it’s been!). No more dropping coins onto the floor and having to grope for it in the dark. No more being ripped off by the cabbie for that 50 cents! It’s a revelation!
Also, completely separate from the Octopus cabbies, are the Visa Cabbies! Although there are currently only 100 taxis enabled with the system, more will be coming. These taxis are called AutoTAXI, complete with an iPhone app that allows you to book then find out where your taxi is while you patiently wait for its arrival! How cool is that?! What’s also great is that fares lower than $200 do not require a signature – so even if you are in the middle of central on a double yellow line, you can get out quickly without being honked at while waiting to sign!
Way to catch up with the world HK Cabbies! Now if only the cabs will accept both Visa AND Octopus….
Seen these cabs around Hong Kong lately?
When I saw my first cabbie van, I thought, ‘FINALLY, Hong Kong is starting to have these larger cabs for hire’. I mean, cities all over the world has cabs like these for people with lots of luggage, for disabled persons or for pure comfort! However, hold your horses and don’t go inputting the number into your iPhone just yet. I’ve called and realised that these cabs are designed to be a barrier-free transportation for people in wheelchairs only.
Almost all of these cabbie vans are booked up by hospitals around the city, and the remaining ones available for bookings are limited, costing at least $100 to go anywhere. For people in wheelchairs and don’t mind dishing out a higher price, this must be a gift from God! It makes their journey from door to door so much easier and more enjoyable. For normal people, I guess we’ll have to wait longer for this luxury and for Hong Kong to finally catch up with the rest of the world.
