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Debate: Taxi Costs, Walking, Poor Planning and more...

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  1. #1

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    Debate: Taxi Costs, Walking, Poor Planning and more...

    Quote Originally Posted by East_coast:
    The access to buses that should service Elements is not as good as the MTR.

    1/3 are under the mall
    1/3 are either side of a 14 lane highway at the tunnel entrance
    1/3 are across Jordan Rd on the To Wah Road bus terminal.

    It is not whether the transport is at grade but how accessible it is. If it was more accessible with the GMB's also being allowed to service apartments then your use of taxis would probably drop.
    U forget that people living around elements have $$$$ and they would rather take a taxi (small expense if u compare to the rent they pay) and save 5,10,15mn etc on transport.

    Mainland Chinese visiting elements won't take the bus

    So it remains people going there to work....and those (shop keepers, cook, waiters, waitress..) they will take the MTR or the buses (or for the MS, DB etc bankers..a taxi)


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  2. #2

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    Regarding my taxi expenses, I think DeletedUser and Mat adequately addressed this issue. 4k for 2 people is a realistic figure; work days are HKD100 1 way, 20 workdays = 40 trips = 4k. We normally carpool together. Our taxi costs comprise 95% of our HK transportation costs.

    And to clarify: Wang Chuk Hang’s MTR is under construction and I would still taxi even after it has been completed.

    For me, the taxi vs public transportation decisions boil down to whether I am willing to pay for:

    1) reduction of walking time (not all transportation time is equal, people value walking vs waiting for taxi differently, don’t like to fight crowds, want to stay out of the heat, etc. – I guess you could call this a quality of life metric);

    2) taxi is door to door for us (taxi’s stop 1 metre from my lobby door);

    3) preference to wait inside a taxi compared to waiting in the queue for the trains in the MTR stations (some of which are very large)

    4) not having to carry purchases (groceries) and gifts (ie: whiskey)

    5) reduction of transportation time; normally I save 20-45 minutes when traveling via taxi; transportation time is total time, and compared door to door – most people track this poorly and don’t take into account walking time a) to the MTR, b) within the MTR), c) to the MTR exit, d) to the destination; e) whether you need to line up for escalators, walk up stairs, take elevators, etc.; few people are good at tracking time IME

    6) taxi’s tend to be quieter (allows me to get work calls done while traveling)

    Last edited by Viktri; 07-05-2015 at 10:51 PM.

  3. #3

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mat:
    So it remains people going there to work....and those (shop keepers, cook, waiters, waitress..) they will take the MTR or the buses (or for the MS, DB etc bankers..a taxi)
    Who cares about the working poor....

  4. #4

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    Original Post Deleted
    Or perhaps some lifts that go from the residences to the transport interchanges would be simpler and faster?

  5. #5

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    All of these points are very good points not about taxis, but to not live in West Kowloon in the first place.

    The intersection from the Western Harbour Toll Crossing bus stop to the Elements/ICC is absolutely horrendous for pedestrians. My partner has even seen someone hit unconscious by a car there. You have to manually press a button to call the pedestrian light, there are multiple blind spots where pedestrians can't see where the traffic is coming from, and even if you press the button and wait for the signal, you cannot walk to the ICC entrance in one go. I see people crossing all the time on the red pedestrian light and oblivious to the traffic coming at them. Absolutely ridiculous for such a fancy piece of real estate. They should have a direct walkway/footbridge going from the bus stop to the Elements/ICC, and if they can't be bothered to put out the money for that, they should -- at the very very least -- make the pedestrian crossing light automatic as part of the light cycle and more frequent.

    It's always on my to-do list to write the Elements/ICC management, Transport Department, and Missing Links about this... I've got the videos to demonstrate the problem... one day!!!

    And, @Mat there are bankers who do take buses there and never taxis.

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  6. #6

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    Original Post Deleted
    Elements is huge set of tower blocks atop of a huge shopping mall with poor pedestrian links to connecting transport links. A different layout of where transport modes link within the complex would facilitate more public transport usage. If you believe it is sensible to consider teleportation systems rather than moving the various bus depots next to the MTR and have efficient lifts and escalator layouts to the transport interchange please pass your suggestion to the Transport Department as they are alway looking for widely expensive transport programs.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by East_coast:
    Who cares about the working poor....
    Certainly not the gvt so what s ur point?

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by Elegiaque:
    All of these points are very good points not about taxis, but to not live in West Kowloon in the first place.

    The intersection from the Western Harbour Toll Crossing bus stop to the Elements/ICC is absolutely horrendous for pedestrians. My partner has even seen someone hit unconscious by a car there. You have to manually press a button to call the pedestrian light, there are multiple blind spots where pedestrians can't see where the traffic is coming from, and even if you press the button and wait for the signal, you cannot walk to the ICC entrance in one go. I see people crossing all the time on the red pedestrian light and oblivious to the traffic coming at them. Absolutely ridiculous for such a fancy piece of real estate. They should have a direct walkway/footbridge going from the bus stop to the Elements/ICC, and if they can't be bothered to put out the money for that, they should -- at the very very least -- make the pedestrian crossing light automatic as part of the light cycle and more frequent.

    It's always on my to-do list to write the Elements/ICC management, Transport Department, and Missing Links about this... I've got the videos to demonstrate the problem... one day!!!

    And, @Mat there are bankers who do take buses there and never taxis.
    It was tongue in cheek (i do take the bus too)…but you get the point...the people that take the buses around elements are not the ones that matter (ie mainland tourists...weatlhy residents....weathly bankers...) really...and as such our beloved gvt won t do much.....

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Viktri:
    Regarding my taxi expenses, I think DeletedUser and Mat adequately addressed this issue. 4k for 2 people is a realistic figure; work days are HKD100 1 way, 20 workdays = 40 trips = 4k. We normally carpool together. Our taxi costs comprise 95% of our HK transportation costs.

    And to clarify: Wang Chuk Hang’s MTR is under construction and I would still taxi even after it has been completed.

    For me, the taxi vs public transportation decisions boil down to whether I am willing to pay for:

    1) reduction of walking time (not all transportation time is equal, people value walking vs waiting for taxi differently, don’t like to fight crowds, want to stay out of the heat, etc. – I guess you could call this a quality of life metric);

    2) taxi is door to door for us (taxi’s stop 1 metre from my lobby door);

    3) preference to wait inside a taxi compared to waiting in the queue for the trains in the MTR stations (some of which are very large)

    4) not having to carry purchases (groceries) and gifts (ie: whiskey)

    5) reduction of transportation time; normally I save 20-45 minutes when traveling via taxi; transportation time is total time, and compared door to door – most people track this poorly and don’t take into account walking time a) to the MTR, b) within the MTR), c) to the MTR exit, d) to the destination; e) whether you need to line up for escalators, walk up stairs, take elevators, etc.; few people are good at tracking time IME

    6) taxi’s tend to be quieter (allows me to get work calls done while traveling)
    Your analysis is sound using your own criteria. But what you miss (in my view) is that the "wasted walking time" is actually useful exercise time. Get a fitbit or similar and see what I mean. One of the advantages of using public transport is the additional steps, which mean fewer calories and a healthier lifestyle. Obviously not one of your criteria, but increasingly one of mine (I think you focus more on healthily lifestyles as you get older).

    For example, this week in Singapore I walked between my hotel and conference centre - 3km (much of it in underground air-conditioned passages) each direction each day. Perfect. When mentioning this to a local he nearly fell off his chair! I can see why the fitbit (and similar) devices are gaining so much popularity, because we are becoming an increasingly sedentary people, and it's not doing us any favours.

    (And yes, walking around HK involves being in the pollution, but frankly if you live here that's something you live with whatever you do, so I discount it in terms of exercise).

  10. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by HK_Katherine:
    Your analysis is sound using your own criteria. But what you miss (in my view) is that the "wasted walking time" is actually useful exercise time. Get a fitbit or similar and see what I mean. One of the advantages of using public transport is the additional steps, which mean fewer calories and a healthier lifestyle. Obviously not one of your criteria, but increasingly one of mine (I think you focus more on healthily lifestyles as you get older).

    For example, this week in Singapore I walked between my hotel and conference centre - 3km (much of it in underground air-conditioned passages) each direction each day. Perfect. When mentioning this to a local he nearly fell off his chair! I can see why the fitbit (and similar) devices are gaining so much popularity, because we are becoming an increasingly sedentary people, and it's not doing us any favours.

    (And yes, walking around HK involves being in the pollution, but frankly if you live here that's something you live with whatever you do, so I discount it in terms of exercise).
    And it will get more and mor epolutted if people need to walk in air conditionning environement ;-)))

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