Students from the University of Hong Kong have recently launched a cheeky yet money-saving app to combat the soaring inflation rates in Hong Kong.

An app called TaxiShare detects other pedestrians that are waiting for taxis within 250 metres of you so that you can split the fare. The app was only made available on 5 October and can be downloaded free of charge on iPhone, iPad and Android phones.

Students strongly believe that it is a money-saving tool given the rise in public transportation in Hong Kong. This is particularly true if you aim to travel long distance, say from Hong Kong Island to the New Territories. The app may save passengers up to 80% of the fare if five passengers are travelling instead of one and are heading to the same destination.

Surprisingly, only passengers have the say of who they want to share a taxi with. If taxi drivers use this to attract passengers, they will actually be falling foul of the law; in Hong Kong, taxi drivers are not allowed to choose customers based on distance and race as part of their code of conduct.