A taxi group has suggested a HK$10 surcharge per trip to finance the cost of installing new air-conditioning systems in cabs if the trade is not exempt from a proposed ban on idling engines.
The suggestion, by the North West Area Taxi Drivers and Operators Association, was put forward at a meeting yesterday with the Environmental Protection Department to discuss the idling-engine ban.
Association spokesman Wong Wing-chung said the charge was necessary as drivers would need to retrofit their vehicles with air-conditioning systems that run on battery power, independent of the engine.
'The passengers need to pay for the idling-engine ban, and if they don't, that means they don't support the ban and the government should scrap it,' he said.
He said the HK$10 charge was just a preliminary estimate on what would be needed to cover the investment and operating cost of the air-conditioning system.
Current taxi air conditioners stop running when the engine is turned off, Mr Wong said. This would pose a health hazard to drivers working in hot weather, he argued.
However, his call for a surcharge was not well received by other taxi organisations.