Calls for 20,500 ride-hailing permits to keep 15,000 cars on roads daily

Hong Kong authorities should issue about 20,500 licences in the first phase of regulating ride-hailing platforms, lawmakers and experts have said, arguing that the city needs at least 15,000 active cars daily to meet existing demand and avoid worsening transport shortages. The proposal came as several lawmakers told the South China Morning Post, on condition of anonymity, that the government had recently consulted them on a regulatory framework for ride-hailing services but had not presented any concrete plan. The SCMP learned that the Transport and Logistics Bureau could submit a document outlining its proposal to the Legislative Council as early as Monday. The bureau is expected to imminently roll out a legal framework to govern operators such as Uber, Tada, Amap and Didi Chuxing, which currently operate without regulation. Amap is operated by Alibaba Group Holding, which also owns the SCMP. “The officials did not reveal the exact number of licences they will issue, but indicated it would not be as high as the ride-hailing platforms proposed, nor as low as the taxi industry demanded,” one lawmaker said. “They appeared to prefer taking the middle road.” Another legislator said the government had discussed insurance requirements for ride-hailing vehicles and expected the industry not to raise fares significantly. The meeting also addressed whether time limits should be imposed on ride-hailing services and whether they should be restricted in certain areas. Last October, the legislature approved the Road Traffic (Amendment) Bill to establish a regulatory framework for such services in the city. The bill aims to resolve long-running disputes between taxi operators and ride-hailing providers, with cabbies complaining that such drivers offer paid services without hire-car permits, rendering the services illegal. Authorities are expected to submit a detailed proposal for the licensing mechanism early this year and begin issuing licences by mid-year, with platforms set to operate under the new framework by the final quarter. The government will introduce subsidiary legislation to set out the number of licences to be issued. The licensing regime will also stipulate requirements for vehicle age and insurance, with separate licences required for platforms, drivers and vehicles. The comments followed remarks from former lawmaker and Smart Transportation Alliance director Gary Zhang Xinyu, who argued the government should issue 20,500 licences in the initial phase. This figure, he claimed, would ensure a minimum of 15,000 active ride-hailing vehicles on the road daily. “Any figure that departs from actual demand will ultimately inconvenience the public in their daily lives,” Zhang said. The alliance, whose members include major ride-hailing and transport technology platforms, said the estimate was based on government statistics showing that ride-hailing services currently handle about 190,000 passenger trips daily, equivalent to roughly 119,000 journeys assuming an average of 1.6 passengers per ride. Using platform operating data, the group estimated that ride-hailing drivers in Hong Kong spend an average of 3.9 hours online each day, with each vehicle completing about 7.8 trips. “To absorb 119,000 trips, at least 15,200 active vehicles are needed daily,” Zhang said, adding that a larger licence pool would be necessary to account for inactive drivers, maintenance downtime and unused permits. The group said the proposed number would amount to roughly a 1.1:1 ratio compared with Hong Kong’s existing 18,000 taxi licences, which it argued remained well below levels seen in cities such as Shanghai, Singapore and Shenzhen. The government is preparing subsidiary legislation to flesh out details of the regulatory framework after lawmakers passed the Road Traffic (Amendment) (Ride-hailing Service) Bill last October, paving the way for the legalisation of ride-hailing services after decades of operating in a legal grey area.