PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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The modern lightweight locally built aluminium cars, drawn along tracks by nearly two miles of steel cable, carry about 1,750,000 people up the mountain each year. The cars seat 72 passengers and two of these cars can carry 850 people up and down the Peak in an hour. The tramway takes passengers up to an altitude of 1,305 feet above sea level, and the steepest part of the track has a gradient of one in two. It is reputed to be the steepest funicular railway in the world using a steel wire rope as its sole means of haulage.
Taxis and Hire Cars. The Road Traffic (Taxis and Hire Cars) Regulations, 1960 provide for the registration and licensing of taxis for use specifically on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and in the New Territories. The conditions under which they may be used and the fares charged, vary with each area. On Hong Kong Island taxis carry four passengers only and fares charged are $1.50 for the first mile and 20 cents for every 1/5 mile thereafter or 25 cents for every 1/4 mile thereafter depending on the type of taximeter in use. A Taxi service limited to journeys to and from the Peak on Hong Kong Island carries three passengers at a rate of $1.00 per mile and 20 cents for each 1/4 mile thereafter.
There are 496 taxis licensed for use on the Island. In Kowloon there are both small and large taxis for the carriage of three or four passengers respectively. The fare charged for all taxis in Kowloon is $1.00 for the first mile and 20 cents for every 1/4 mile thereafter. There are 350 taxis licensed to operate in the New Territories. These taxis may operate anywhere in the New Territories and may transport passengers to any place in Kowloon. They may pick up passengers in Kowloon for destinations in the New Territories but only at taxi stands reserved for their use in Kowloon. They may not operate internally in Kowloon. Fares for New Territories taxis carrying up to 4 passengers are 80 cents for the first mile and 20 cents for every 1/4 mile thereafter. For taxis carrying 5 to 9 passengers the fare is $1.00 for the first mile and 25 cents for every 1/4 mile thereafter.
Hire cars are also licensed under the provisions of the Road Traffic (Taxis and Hire Cars) Regulations, 1960. These vehicles can be hired by individual members of the public for carriage of persons or goods. They may be driven by the hirer provided he or she holds a valid driving licence to drive a private car, or the
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