XN000022-1981-02-19 — Page 4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1981

THE DEPARTMENT STATED THAT THE SURVEY DATA, OBTAINED WITH A MINIMUM TIME LAG, WAS BASICALLY INTENDED TO PROVIDE ONE SOURCE OF REFERENCE FOR MAKING A QUICK ASSESSMENT OF THE CURRENT ECONOMIC SITUATION IN HONG KONG. APART FROM A LIMITED NUMBER OF QUESTIONS REQUIRING ANSWERS IN QUANTITATIVE TERMS, FIRMS WERE ASKED TO COMPARE THE QUARTER JUST PAST WITH THE PREVIOUS QUARTER AND SIMILARLY FOR THE FORTHCOMING ONE, AND ONLY HAD TO INDICATE WHETHER, IN THEIR OPINION, A CERTAIN VARIABLE WAS +UP+, +SAME+ OR +DOWN+. BALANCE OF OPINIONS OF RESPONDENTS WERE TABULATED AND ANALYSED, AND WHERE APPROPRIATE THEY WERE INTERPRETED ALONG WITH RESULTS OBTAINED IN EARLIER SURVEYS, THE DEPARTMENT CAUTIONED THAT IN A SURVEY OF THIS NATURE, CONSIDERABLE RESERVATIONS MUST BE MADE IN THE

INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS AS IT WAS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH PRECISELY THE EXTENT TO WHICH RESPONDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE PAST AND THE FUTURE ACCORDS WITH THE UNDERLYING TRENDS.

COPIES OF THE REPORT, CONTAINING AN ANALYSIS AND STATISTICAL TABLES ON VARIOUS ECONOMIC VARIABLES, HAVE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO FIRMS TAKING PART IN THE SURVEY AND OTHER BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS. MEMBERS OF PUBLIC MAY OBTAIN COPIES OF THE REPORT AT $3 PER COPY FROM GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS SALES CENTRE, CENTRAL POST OFFICE BUILDING.

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TAXI SURVEY

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AS PART OF ITS ON-GOING EXERCISE TO MONITOR TAXI SERVICES IN HONG KONG THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT IS CARRYING OUT ANOTHER SURVEY ON THE OPERATIONAL COSTS FOR URBAN AND NEW TERRITORIES TAXIS.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY (THURSDAY) THE SURVEY WILL BE SPREAD OVER THE NEXT TWO MONTHS AND APPEALED TO TA OPERATORS FOR THE IR CO-OPERATION IN THE EXERCISE.

HE SAID, FOR THE PURPOSE OF THE SURVEY 1 530 TAXIS IN THE URBAN AREAS AND THE NEW TERRITORIES HAVE BEEN SELECTED AT RANDOM AND THEIR OWNERS HAVE BEEN REQUESTED TO COMPLETE A QUESTIONNAIRE FORM ASKING FOR INFORMATION ON THE MONTHLY EXPENDITURE INCLUDING THE COST OF FUEL AND LUBRICANT, WAGES OF DRIVERS, INSURANCE AND GARAGE EXPENDITURE, OF EACH TAXI AND RETURN IT IN A SELF-ADDRESSED, POSTAGE PAID, ENVELOPE TO THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT.

+EACH TAXI OWNER WILL THEN BE REQUESTED TO PRESENT THE IR TAXI ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS AT ONE MONTH'S INTERVAL AT THE THREE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT CENTRES FOR METER READINGS. THESE CENTRES ARE THE TIN KWONG ROAD DRIVING TEST CENTRE AND THE VICTORIA BARRACKS TRANSPORT INSPECTOR OFFICE FOR URBAN TAXIS AND THE YUEN LONG DISTRICT OFFICE FOR N.T. TAXIS.

+THE WHOLE METER READING PROCESS IS VERY SIMPLE AND WILL ONLY TAKE AT MOST FIVE MINUTES, THE SPOKESMAN ADDED.

THE SPOKESMAN POINTED OUT THAT ALL TAXI ASSOCIATIONS HAVE BEEN INFORMED OF THE EXERCISE AND ASSURED TAXI OWNERS THAT THE DATA COLLECTED WOULD BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL BY THE DEPARTMENT.

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