Uber halts taxis and cargo vans in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s iconic boxy, red taxis. Photo credit: Fraser Elliot.

Two of Uber’s transport options in Hong Kong are being discontinued, the startup said today.

UberVan, which is like UberCargo, as well as UberTaxi will cease operating from Sunday onwards, reports the South China Morning Post this evening. That leaves Uber to focus on UberX and UberBlack in the city of 7 million people.

Uber first brought its cargo vans to Hong Kong at the start of 2015, four months after UberTaxi rolled out in the area.

Focused on cars

“We are realigning our offerings to focus on the ride-sharing options on our platforms UberX and UberBlack which are used by the vast majority of riders and drivers, and part of the realignment is that some options that are not as commonly used will be phased out,” the spokesman told the newspaper.

It’s a victory for two Hong Kong startups, Gogovan and Lalamove, which pioneered their app-based, on-demand cargo van services before Uber came along. (Updated: changed EasyVan to its new branding, Lalamove.)

The news comes days after Uber announced it’d be pulling out of neighboring Macau, the city famous for gambling. It’s due to the Chinese territory’s clampdown on ride-hailing, which is illegal. Uber drivers had been hit with a total of US$1.25 million in fines since Uber debuted in Macau 10 months ago, according to Uber’s Mike Brown.