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Taxis
TRANSPORT
Hong Kong is served by three types of taxis: Hong Kong and Kowloon taxis which may operate anywhere throughout the territories but primarily the urban areas; New Territories taxis which operate only in permitted areas in the New Territories, and Lantau taxis which operate only on Lantau Island.
At the end of 1988, there were in operation 14 337 urban taxis, 2 421 New Territories taxis and 40 Lantau taxis carrying 1 080 000, 135 000 and 700 daily passengers respectively. A comprehensive review of taxi policy was carried out in mid-1988. The level of taxi service is constantly monitored.
Port Development and Shipping Services
The port of Hong Kong, the leading container port in the world in terms of throughput, continued to meet efficiently the demands of an increasing number of ship arrivals as well as the growth in both the volume of cargo handled and passenger numbers.
Victoria Harbour, lying between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, is the centre of shipping activity. It has an area of 4 900 hectares and varies in width from 1.2 to 9.6 kilometres.
Port facilities are fully used and continuously being modernised. This efficiency is reflected by the average turn-round time of ships working cargo both at harbour mooring buoys and Kwai Chung container terminals, where they remain on average for two-and-a- half days and 13 hours respectively. These are probably the fastest turn-round times for any port in the Far East.
The administration of the port is the responsibility of the Director of Marine. He is advised by various committees through which close liaison with shipping and commercial interests is maintained to ensure that facilities and services are developed to meet the changing needs of Hong Kong and of ships using the port.
In 1988, some 17 090 ocean-going vessels and 94 930 river-trade vessels called at Hong Kong and loaded and discharged more than 81 million tonnes of cargo. This included 55 million tonnes of general goods from ocean-going vessels, of which 50 per cent was containerised cargo.
Although containerisation is a major cargo transport method, a considerable amount of dry cargo handled in Hong Kong is transported at some stage by lighters and motor cargo boats. About 2 000 of these vessels were operating at the end of 1988, some 30 per cent of which were self-propelled. Break-bulk cargo is normally handled using ships' gear, but floating heavy-lift cranes are available when required.
The port of Hong Kong handled four million TEUS (20-foot equivalent units) in 1988. The container terminals at Kwai Chung provide seven berths with more than 2 650 metres of quay backed by about 128 hectares of cargo handling area. This area includes container yards and container freight stations, all operated by private companies. Up to seven 'third generation' container ships can berth simultaneously at the container terminals. One of the terminal operators at Kwai Chung provides a 12-storey multi-purpose godown with the first two floors serving as a container freight station while another terminal accommodates a new six-storey container freight station capable of accommodating 40-foot containers. This is the largest such facility in the Far East. Various other multi-storey godowns in the vicinity of Kwai Chung provide additional storage facilities.
Other wharves and terminals provided and operated by private enterprise are capable of accommodating vessels up to 305 metres in length with draughts up to 14.6 metres. Cargo-handling facilities in the public sector include cargo working areas at Wan Chai,