Taxi Advertising

As of 2003, there were 18,138 taxis in Hong Kong, of which 15,250 were urban taxis, 2,838 were New Territories taxis, and 50 were Lantau taxis. Every day they serve about 1.1 million, 207,900 and 1,400 people respectively.

The taxi trade is regulated by the Government, as are the fare scales. Taxis need a license to operate in Hong Kong. The government stopped issuing licenses in 1994, when there were a total of 18,138 in the territory. Existing licenses are transferable, and are traded on the open market, which is rising steeply. The going cost for a license is around HK$5 million.^[6]

The service area of the three types of taxis are defined by the Government in the 1960s.^[7] The need for the three different types was to avoid clustering of taxis in the more populated/profitable areas of the territory, and a shortage in others.^[8] All three types of taxis serve Hong Kong International Airport and The Disneyland Resort.

The red taxis have the highest fares among all, and serve all areas of New Territories, Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. They may also run Tung Chung (Lantau), the Airport at Chek Lap Kok (Lantau) and Disneyland, but are not permitted to run the rest of Lantau Island. These taxis can only carry passengers in the Lantau or New Territories areas if the passengers are returning to Kowloon or Hong Kong Island, or must return to their service areas themselves to continue their business. A taxi will sometimes appear with its roof light on, but with the 'For Hire' flag covered by an 'Out of Service' sign; this means they are attempting to catch a fare back across the harbour tunnel.