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)