TVB's probes into taxi fleets' hailing speed

In operation for one year, the city’s five taxi fleets total nearly 2,000 cabs, accounting for only 57% of the Transport Department’s target.

A total of 16 locations, including the airport, some border crossings and selected attractions, have dedicated parking spaces for the fleets.

Outside the West Kowloon High-Speed Rail Station, TVB observed there were only taxis from one fleet in an hour.

TVB also tried to hail a ride during non-peak afternoon hours via the taxi fleet platforms and Uber Taxi, travelling from Wan Chai to Victoria Park. No orders were taken up by cabbies across four fleet platforms.

We successfully hailed a cab in about a minute from one fleet and Uber Taxi.

One issue is the manpower crunch, with one of the fleet members saying they currently have 600 vehicles and are providing various benefits for drivers to recruit more manpower.