6.1 Fare Scales: Urban, NT & Lantau

6.1 Fare Scales: Urban, NT & Lantau

Quick Answer: General taxis charge three different metered scales by operating area. Urban (red): flagfall $29 for first 2 km (or part), then $2.1 per 200 m or 1 min waiting until the chargeable amount reaches $102.5, then $1.4. NT (green): $25.5 / 2 km, then $1.9 until $82.5, then $1.4. Lantau (blue): $24 / 2 km, then $1.9 until $195, then $1.6. Study Appendix 3 of the Taxi Operation Booklet (September 2025), but treat the Gazette taxi-fare notice as the instrument with legal precedence.

Part A of the Taxi Written Test expects you to know how Hong Kong taxi fares are built, not just that "the meter runs." This section covers the three general-taxi fare scales used on the street: Urban, New Territories (NT), and Lantau. Fleet taxis and pre-arranged customised fares appear in Section 6.3; extra charges and tunnel tolls appear in Section 6.2. Here the focus is pure metered scale structure.

Booklet Reference vs Gazette Precedence

The Taxi Operation Booklet for Taxi Written Test (September 2025 revised version) sets out fare figures in Appendix 3. Those are the numbers you must memorise for exam purposes and for day-to-day operation training.

At the same time, the Booklet is a study and operational reference. The legal fare schedule is the one published by Gazette notice under the taxi fare legislation. If a future Gazette amends a flagfall or step rate, the Gazette has legal precedence over any older booklet table. For the Written Test based on the current booklet syllabus, answer with the Appendix 3 figures taught here, but never tell a passenger (or an examiner conceptually) that a private booklet overrides law.

Exam-safe framing:

1. Learn Urban / NT / Lantau scales from Appendix 3 (Sept 2025 booklet).
2. State that the Gazette controls lawful maximum metered fares if texts conflict.
3. Do not invent "company rates" that undercut or inflate the prescribed metered scale on a street-hail general taxi.

Three Operating Areas and Body Colours

Hong Kong general taxis are colour-coded by the area in which they are licensed to operate as that type:

Colour is a recognition aid for hirers and a memory anchor for exam tables. Fare scale follows taxi type / operating area, not the passenger's preferred colour. A green NT taxi uses the NT scale; a red Urban taxi uses the Urban scale; a blue Lantau taxi uses the Lantau scale. Do not mix flagfalls across types.

What "Flagfall" Means

Flagfall (also called the initial hiring charge or first-increment charge) is the amount registered when the hire begins for the first 2 kilometres or part thereof. Once the taxi is hired and the meter is on HIRED, the passenger already owes at least that opening amount for up to 2 km of chargeable journey structure.

Critical phrase: "or part thereof." If the passenger travels only 500 m and alights, the flagfall for the first 2 km band still applies — there is no pro-rata half flagfall for a short hop inside that opening band. The law charges by completed fare steps, not by a pure continuous per-metre formula the passenger can re-calculate from scratch.

Flagfalls (Appendix 3 / Sept 2025 booklet teaching figures):

Memorise the descending order Urban > NT > Lantau for the opening charge: 29 / 25.5 / 24.

Dual Distance / Time Charging After Flagfall

After the flagfall band, the meter advances by whichever charging basis the approved taximeter applies under the dual system: roughly, further distance and waiting time both generate steps. The Booklet expresses the unit as:

• every 200 metres or part thereof, or
• every 1 minute of waiting time or part thereof,

at the stated incremental rate for that taxi type (until the step-down threshold).

What that means for drivers:

1. Distance steps — each unfinished 200 m segment still attracts the full step once the meter advances for that segment ("or part").
2. Waiting steps — traffic queues, lights, and passenger stops that count as waiting time advance the fare in 1-minute parts at the same dollar step as the distance increment for that phase of the scale.
3. Dual system — the meter is built to combine time and distance so slow traffic does not erase the driver's lawful earning structure; passengers pay for occupied time as well as kilometres.

You do not manually choose "only time" or "only distance" on a standard hire. The approved taximeter applies the prescribed combination. Your job is to know the published rates and thresholds and never add unofficial "slow traffic surcharges" on top of the meter.

Incremental Rates Before the Step-Down

Until the chargeable amount on the meter reaches the type-specific threshold, the incremental rate for each 200 m or 1 min (or part) is:

Notice NT and Lantau share the same mid-rate ($1.9), but they do not share the same threshold or lower rate. Urban is uniquely $2.1 in the first incremental phase.

Step-Down After the Threshold (Lower Rate Phase)

Hong Kong scales use a step-down: once the chargeable amount reaches a stated money threshold, further 200 m / 1 min (or part) increments use a lower rate. This is not optional goodwill — it is part of the published scale.

Teaching points examiners love:

• Thresholds are money totals on the chargeable fare, not "after X kilometres" alone. When the running chargeable amount hits $102.5 / $82.5 / $195, the next steps use the lower rate for that type.
• Urban and NT both fall to $1.4, but Urban's threshold is higher ($102.5 vs $82.5).
• Lantau stays on the higher mid-rate much longer (threshold $195) and only then drops to $1.6 — not $1.4.
• Do not swap Lantau's $1.6 post-threshold rate with Urban/NT's $1.4.

Master Memory Table

Drill this table until you can fill any blank cell under exam pressure. Typical traps include:

• Urban flagfall $25.5 or $24 (those belong to NT / Lantau).
• NT threshold $102.5 (that is Urban).
• Lantau post-threshold $1.4 (wrong — Lantau is $1.6).
• Claiming increments every 100 m or every 30 seconds (wrong unit).
• Saying flagfall covers only 1 km (wrong — 2 km or part).

How a Journey "Builds" Conceptually

Without inventing unofficial arithmetic beyond the scale rules:

1. Hire starts → meter shows at least the flagfall for that taxi type for the first 2 km or part structure.
2. Journey continues → meter adds $2.1 / $1.9 / $1.9 (by type) for successive 200 m or 1 min parts while under the threshold.
3. Chargeable amount crosses $102.5 / $82.5 / $195 → further steps use $1.4 / $1.4 / $1.6.
4. Lawful extras and tolls (Section 6.2) may be added where permitted; they are not a free-hand increase of the distance/time scale itself.

Operational and Exam Discipline

• Never overcharge above the prescribed scale and lawful extras — overcharging is a serious Taxi Driver Offence Points (TDOP) matter (Section 6.2).
• Never undercut the meter on a street-hail general-taxi journey by private "cash deal" that pretends the scale does not apply; fleet customised pre-arranged fares are a separate regime (Section 6.3).
• When a passenger questions the amount, point to the displayed fare table, the running meter, and the receipt — not to informal estimates.
• Remember colour → type → scale: red Urban, green NT, blue Lantau for general taxis.

Closing Checklist for Section 6.1

1. Three types: Urban red, NT green, Lantau blue.
2. Flagfall always first 2 km or part: $29 / $25.5 / $24.
3. Dual step: 200 m or part / 1 min waiting or part.
4. Mid-rates: $2.1 / $1.9 / $1.9.
5. Thresholds: $102.5 / $82.5 / $195.
6. Lower rates: $1.4 / $1.4 / $1.6.
7. Booklet Appendix 3 (Sept 2025) for study figures; Gazette for legal precedence.

Next, Section 6.2 adds the extra charges and tunnel / toll rules that sit beside the metered scale — baggage, animals, phone booking, wheelchairs, harbour return-toll logic, and the overcharging offence.