500 taxi drivers recognized by Quality Taxi Driver Award

Among the 500 quality taxi drivers selected for the Quality Taxi Driver Award 2000, 10 were awarded the Outstanding Quality Taxi Drivers and 20 awarded "Hong Kong Tourists Association Quality Taxi Drivers at a ceremony held today (May 24).

"The result of the Award campaign is very encouraging and it indicates that both local passengers and overseas tourists think high of the taxi service quality in Hong Kong," said the Chairman of the Quality Taxi Services Steering Committee Mr Jeffrey Lam after presenting the prizes to award winners.

"The Award may serve to recognise the endless efforts made by the taxi drivers who provide professional service to passengers on the one hand and contribute to a better image of Hong Kong on the other.

"We shall continue our effort to encourage taxi drivers to keep on their good work and help improve the general service quality of the trade," said Mr. Lam.

The nomination for the Award took two months and taxi drivers were assessed in accordance with the following criteria by a working group consisting of transport officials, taxi trade representatives and sponsors of the Award:

	reliability and safety (that is, the degree of concentration when driving, driving behavior/manner, as well as smooth and safe ride)
	customer service (that is, politeness, collecting exact fares, neat appearance, and familiarity with routeing)
	car compartment (that is, internal cleanliness); and
	overall passenger satisfactions.

The Outstanding Quality Taxi Drivers are the top ten drivers who have obtained full marks from their nominators and they will be presented "Outstanding Quality Taxi Driver" Certificate and identity cards as well as some other prizes and oil coupons.

Jointly organized by the Steering Committee, the Transport Department and taxi associations, the Award is one of the series of projects launched to help improve the taxi service quality.

Also officiating at the ceremony, the Commissioner for Transport Mr Robert Footman stressed the importance of the role played by the taxi trade in improving the service quality.

"While the government will continue to help the taxi trade, we count on taxi trade's continued support and look forward to working together again towards the common objective of uplifting the quality of taxi service in Hong Kong."

The award campaign was launched last January and passengers were given a nomination form for them to nominate drivers providing quality service. A total of 1,200 nominees were received when the campaign closed on March 26.

End/Wednesday, May 24, 2000

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