ENG-2018 — Page 267

Taxis

14

Transport

At the year end, there were 15,250 red urban taxis, 2,838 green New Territories taxis and 75 blue Lantau taxis. These carried about 889,200 passengers per day in 2018. There were about 760 taxi stands and designated taxi pick-up/drop-off points.

Private cars

At the year end, there were 565,213 licensed private cars, of which 42,287 were new vehicles registered during 2018.

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 enhance transport management.

Licensing

At the year end, there were 2,290,097 licensed drivers, 778,060 licensed private vehicles and 6,374 government vehicles. The licensed private vehicles comprised 55,545 motorcycles and motor tricycles, 565,213 private cars, 18,143 taxis, 13,229 public buses, 694 private buses, 4,323 PLBS, 3,346 private light buses, 72,704 light goods vehicles, 36,702 medium goods vehicles, 6,398 heavy goods vehicles and 1,763 special purpose vehicles. On average, 4,542 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. In 2018, about 26,600 people attended the course, about 25,100 of whom were on a mandatory basis. About 93 per cent of participants who attended the course did not incur new driving-offence points within six months of completing the course.

Vehicle Examination

Vehicles are examined routinely to ensure they are safe, roadworthy and properly maintained. Commercial vehicles are checked annually at the four government vehicle examination centres.

In 2018, these centres conducted 214,000 vehicle examinations. In addition, 3,600 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 41 designated car testing centres run by the private sector. These centres perform 345,000 vehicle examinations a year.

All imported vehicles must be examined to ensure the statutory requirements are met before they can be registered and licensed. In 2018, 1,224 vehicle types were approved.

Intelligent Transport Systems

Smart mobility is an integral part of the government's transport policy. The government develops Intelligent Transport Systems under a three-pronged approach: dissemination of

213