One hundred and fifty taxi licences are set to be issued this month which will raise the total number of taxis running in Macau to almost 1,000, director of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (IACM) Tam Vai Man announced yesterday.

Speaking to the local media at the Sao Domingos Activity Centre, Senado Square, ahead of a community meeting, Mr Tam said 150 four-seating taxi licences will be issued in a eight-year term.

After studying the opinions collected from the taxi industry and other related government bureaus such as the traffic department, Mr Tam said regulations are expected to release in the coming two weeks, followed by a public bidding process.

“We hope to accelerate the procedures in order to have these additional taxis in operation as soon as possible so that the current severe shortage of taxis can be alleviated,” the IACM director said.

Mr Tam said the taxi industry generally supported the move, but showed some concerns about the quality of road facilities and traffic control that was going to complement the change.

“Apart from increasing the number of taxis available in Macau, we need to improve the traffic conditions as well. By doing this, we can then truly accommodate the needs of the public,” he added.

After the taxis officially hit the road, Mr Tam said the IACM will closely look at the effectiveness and the social response.

If the increase is not sufficient to cope with the demand, he said the government is always willing to grant further taxi licences.

Asked if he was worried about the supply of taxi drivers to fill in the new places, he said the IACM has taken the human resources issue seriously into consideration before setting the number at 150.

Currently, there are 830 taxis operating in Macau. Of these, some 100 are yellow taxis.

About 7,000 taxi driver licences have been granted, however, only some 4,000 eligible drivers have renewed their licences regularly.

Mr Tam said the demand for taxis at night time is rising steadily, due to the introduction of the Traffic Law that increased the penalty of drink driving.

According to the IACM, some 700 taxi service complaints were received last year.

Between January and June this year, 600 complaints were filed.

Mr Tam said complaints from the public were, to some extent, inevitable as a result of the severe shortage of taxis travelling within the region.

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