DSAT admits penalties for taxi infractions are ‘light’

Lam Hin San

Transport Bureau (DSAT) Director Lam Hin San said that the DSAT will support any suggestions coming from the taxi industry as long as they improve the industry’s service quality.

Regarding the recent reports of the many suspected taxi violations in Macau, Lam admitted that current penalties for taxis in Macau, are relatively light, and even if the transport and police authorities have strengthened their powers against illegal taxi drivers, the issue of non-compliance in the taxi industry has not shown signs of slowing down.

Lam noted that the content of the relevant laws concerning the taxi industry does not specifically deal with taxi violations.

Presently, Lam hopes that the legislative procedure relating to the taxi industry will achieve immediate results in the matters under concern.

When asked about the taxi industry’s desire to cooperate with the DSAT in the development of Quality Taxi accreditation, which proposes to place signs on taxis that provide high quality taxi services, Lam said that the government will support any suggestions that are demonstrated to improve taxi services.

Regarding the shortage of bus drivers, Lam said that the DSAT has already asked bus companies to review safety hazards presented by operations carried out by short term drivers.

According to Lam, most of the short term bus drivers of the three bus companies are already complying with the DSAT’s requirements, including driving relevant bus routes for a minimum of four days a week.

The majority of part-time bus drivers are only engaged in full-time bus driving work.

Currently, there are a total of 46 part-time bus drivers from the three bus companies who have resumed driving.

The transport head expects the number of bus accidents this year to decrease by ten percent compared to last year.

As for the bus concession renewal, Lam said that it is still in the process of negotiations.