Hong Kong test for minibus drivers from mainland China tricky because of different road rules, lack of local knowledge: trade chiefs
- About 50 minibus drivers have arrived as part of a scheme to ease labour shortages, but only two of the six who took driving test passed, Transport Department says
- Level of local transport knowledge among mainland drivers a factor in pass rate, operators’ association chief says
A lack of local knowledge and different rules could have made it harder for some mainland Chinese minibus drivers to pass the road test in Hong Kong, industry representatives said on Friday, warning operators’ costs to keep them in the city might rise as a result.
According to the Transport Department, about 50 minibus drivers have arrived in Hong Kong from the mainland as part of a scheme to ease labour shortages, but only two of the six who took the road test to get a licence had passed.
“Cars in Hong Kong and on the mainland are steered on different sides, which means that we drive differently, even turns are different,” So Sai-hung, chairman of the GMB Maxicab Operators General Association, said on Friday.
He said that with passenger safety a priority, the new drivers would first have to go through relevant training before they could start working locally, stressing they were held to the same standards as those in Hong Kong.
So said that, from an employer’s perspective, drivers should pass the test on their first or second attempt. If drivers required three or four attempts, it might indicate issues with their skills, he noted.
He said employers would have to arrange accommodation for drivers when they arrived in Hong Kong for training and pay for the tests, but added that there might be room for negotiation with them on splitting costs if too many attempts were required.
Each minibus driving test could cost an employer several thousand Hong Kong dollars.
The government had approved about 400 spaces for mainland residents to become minibus drivers in Hong Kong and all of them were expected to arrive in the city by March, So said.
Chau Kwok-keung, chairman of the Hong Kong Taxi and Public Light Bus Association, said the low pass rate was not a cause for concern and that more training could be given to drivers from the mainland to help tackle it.
He said one of the reasons for the mainland drivers’ failure to pass the test could be their existing habits, as they were all experienced. It might also take time to get used to the way driving was examined in Hong Kong, Chau added.
“Another reason is nerves and stress during the test,” he said.
“The drivers may be fine when we show them the routes or when we get them to do the practice rounds. But when it came to the test, they got nervous and did not perform as well, which I believe can be solved with more training.”
Chau agreed that drivers who needed to take multiple tests could put financial strain on employers, but noted it was never planned to be a long-term arrangement.
The pass rate for the light bus driving test stood at 16 per cent as of May 2023.
The Transport Department said the figures concerning mainland drivers so far should not be considered valid statistics for the time being given testing had just started.
Hong Kong Guangdong Boundary Crossing Bus Association secretary Freeman Cheung Kim-ping said coach drivers from the mainland would start taking tests on Saturday.
Cheung said he hoped for a pass rate of about 50 per cent. “Although they can drive, it does not mean they know how to take tests,” he noted.
He said the mainland coach drivers would have to undergo 16 hours of training in Hong Kong and would be tested on vehicles with automatic transmission, which should make it easier.
Bringing in mainland drivers is part of a government plan rolled out last year to import 20,000 workers to ease the labour crunch in the construction, aviation and transport industries.
Under the labour importation scheme, authorities have approved 969 quota slots for the transport sector, with 461 for minibus drivers. The other spaces are for coach drivers.
People hired under the scheme must be paid a monthly rate no lower than the median in the sector, which is HK$14,300 (US$1,830) for minibus drivers.
The construction sector will be allowed to import a maximum of 12,000 workers from the mainland, while Hong Kong International Airport can bring in 6,300 to fill vacancies for cleaners and other frontline roles.
