XN000022-1973-02-22 — Page 5

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Thursday, February 22, 1973

SURVEY ON OPERATING COSTS AND PROFITABILITY OF TAXIS

IN HONG KONG

The Research and Development Section of the Transport Department

has been conducting a survey on the profitability and operating characteristic

of the taxi trade.

The survey, covering about a fifth of the 3,400 odd taxi fleet

in January, aims at determining the operating costs and profitability of

both Hong Kong and Kowloon taxis to see whether fares should be raised,

as suggested by taxi operators, and possibly a common tariff introduced.

The first part of the survey included questionnaire interviews with

taxi drivers and owners on the fixed and variable costs of taxi operation in

order to assess the overall return on capital assets employed.

The difference in profit obtained by Hong Kong taxis and Kowloon

taxis together with profit levels between individual owners and large taxi

firms will also be established.

The second part of the survey involved an examination of taxi meters to find out the number of daily trips, passengers carried, average length of journey and dead mileage/idle time.

This enables a determination of the efficiency of present taxi

operation and the degree of utilisation.

The field work, which began on January 8, has now been completed,

The results are now being analysed and interpreted, and it is hoped that the findings will be submitted to the Transport Advisory Committee.

The Transport