254 Transport
distributed at Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong Disneyland and Lok Ma Chau Control Point to provide useful information on taxi services to taxi drivers, passengers and tourists.
In addition, the department has stepped up its promotional and educational efforts to encourage the charging and paying of taxi fares according to the taximeters.
Ferries
Ferries provide essential transport links to outlying islands where no land transport alternatives are available. They also provide an alternative transport service to and from the inner harbour and other areas in Hong Kong.
At year-end there were 13 franchised and licensed ferry operators running 24 regular passenger ferry services, two dangerous goods/vehicular ferry services and two special services for the harbour and for trips to the new towns and outlying islands. These franchised/licensed services were supplemented by 71 'kaito' or small boats routes, which provide services to relatively remote parts of Hong Kong. Ferries recorded a daily average of about 72 000 passenger trips within the harbour and about 64 000 passenger trips to and from the outlying islands.
Transport Management
Effective transport management is essential for the orderly and safe operation of the transport system. The Government's regulatory powers are provided under the Road Traffic Ordinance. Every effort is made to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transport management through the use of modern technology in a variety of areas.
Licensing
At year-end, there were 1773 863 licensed drivers, 601 481 licensed private vehicles and 6 315 government vehicles. There were 414 966 licensed private cars, of which 31 828 were new vehicles registered during the year. Registered goods vehicles numbered 114 775, of which 72 847 were light goods vehicles, 38 588 medium goods vehicles and 3 340 heavy goods vehicles. On average, there were 3 580 new learner-drivers per month.
Driver Improvement Scheme
To promote road safety and make drivers more law abiding through better understanding of good driving behaviour and attitude, the Transport Department launched a Driver Improvement Scheme in September 2002 and designated a number of driving schools to provide the driving improvement course. To enhance road safety further, since February 2009 persons falling within the specified two categories have been required to attend the course on a mandatory basis in accordance with the Road Traffic Ordinance and Road Traffic (Driving-offence Points) Ordinance. The categories are offenders who have been convicted of serious traffic offences and who have accumulated 10 Driving Offence Points within two years. From September 2002 to December 2010, about 34 700 drivers attended the course,