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Transport
Lantau taxi licences from December 2015. The new taxis are expected to be in operation in 2016, taking the total number of Lantau taxis to 75.
To improve the quality of taxi service, the Transport Department and the Quality Taxi Services Steering Committee continued to hold an annual Quality Taxi Drivers Commendation Scheme to give due recognition to good taxi drivers.
Private cars
At the year end, there were 521,852 licensed private cars, of which 50,322 were new vehicles registered during 2015.
Road Transport Management
Effective transport management is essential for the orderly and safe operation of the transport system. Modern technology is used in a variety of ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of transport management.
Licensing
At the year end, there were 2,161,299 licensed drivers, 722,012 licensed private vehicles and 6,251 government vehicles. The licensed private vehicles comprised 47,759 motorcycles and motor tricycles, 521,852 private cars, 18,118 taxis, 12,881 public buses, 610 private buses, 4,344 public light buses, 3,066 private light buses, 70,431 light goods vehicles, 36,001 medium goods vehicles, 5,398 heavy goods vehicles and 1,552 special purpose vehicles. On average, 4,037 new learners' driving licences were issued per month.
Driver Improvement Scheme
The Road Traffic Ordinance and the Road Traffic (Driving-offence Points) Ordinance require that offenders who have been convicted of serious traffic offences and traffic offenders who have accumulated 10 Driving Offence Points within two years shall attend a driving improvement course provided by a designated driving school. The course is also open to eligible drivers. In 2015, about 21,700 persons attended the course, including about 20,600 who were required to take part on a mandatory basis. About 90 per cent of drivers who attended the course did not incur new driving-offence points within six months after the course.
Vehicle Examination
Vehicles are examined routinely to ensure they are safe, roadworthy and properly maintained. In 2015, 219,000 vehicles were examined at government vehicle examination centres. In addition, 3,500 spot checks were carried out on franchised buses to determine their safety, roadworthiness and service standards. Private cars over six years old and light goods vehicles not exceeding 1.9 tonnes are inspected annually at 23 designated car testing centres run by the private sector. These centres carried out 347,000 vehicle examinations.
All vehicles imported into Hong Kong must be examined to make sure they meet the statutory requirements before they can be registered and licensed. In 2015, 937 vehicle types were approved.
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