Uber is very popular all over the world. It is a very new idea and brings impact to the traditional transportation industry, especially taxi. There are arguments on whether it is legal or now in many countries. Some of they just accept it; some of them reject it; some of them need Uber to have several license before it roll out.
How is the case in Hong Kong? Recently in May 2017, Hong Kong police arrested 21 drivers in undercover operations across the city on suspicion they were operating without hire-car permits and third-party insurance.
For my personal objective, I totally support Uber in Hong Kong. It’s quite ridiculous that Hong Kong, which takes pride in calling itself Asia’s World City, but has shown no tolerance for a ride-hailing service that employs the wonders of technology for the convenience of urban commuters.
And what’s more behind the reason I support Uber is the bad quality of service for the Hong Kong taxi. For most of the Hong Kong citizen who born in Hong Kong and live for more than 20 years like me, I think everyone of us had experience the bad attitude from the taxi driver. Which include impolite attitude, foul language, satirizing you if you only take a short distance of ride, etc.
But you are already so lucky that you can experience their bad attitude. As actually, you can even hardly get on a taxi. Taxi drive would even not let you to get on their car if your destination is in a short distance or not a favorite location for them.
Many Hong Kong residents now prefer to take Uber trips rather than hire taxis because of the big difference in the quality of service. Commuters have more than tons of complaints against taxi drivers, about their boorishness and unprofessionalism.
Uber now offers a healthy competition to the local taxi industry, and the government should encourage such rivalry to improve the overall quality of service rather than stifle it. However, what the government did is encouraging its dominance of the market and providing no incentive for it to improve its service.
So, next time when you visit Hong Kong, you get my upvote for taking Uber than taxi here. But of course, if you want to experience it, just go ahead! As long as you can get one.