Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words.The debate about Hong Kong’s quota on ride-hailing vehicles has produced the predictable theatre of incumbents seeking protection and platforms seeking market share, while officials seek a number nobody can justify with confidence. A static quota is the wrong instrument for a dynamic market.The data illustrates the difficulty: demand can vary as much as 66 per cent; up to 90 per cent of ride-hailing drivers work part-time; at one platform, annual driver attrition approaches 44 per cent.A fixed cap is unlikely to accommodate these variables without suppressing supply at peak times or creating oversupply at quiet times. The government is trying to predict the equilibrium output of a market it has never formally regulated. During the Legislative Council transport panel meeting on May 12, officials and legislators could not agree on a number with analytical confidence.There is a better approach: rather than a static quota, consider a preregistration and daily licence regime.Under such a regime, drivers would first satisfy preregistration criteria: upper and lower age limits, clean driving record, no sexual offence convictions, vehicle below the 12-year limit, individual ownership as required by person-vehicle binding. Pre-registration creates a verified supply pool without conferring any operational entitlement.