Is Hong Kong kicking the can down the road with ride-hailing quota?

Taxi trade leader Chau Kwok-keung says he has never felt as much fear as he does now after transport minister Mable Chan set a 10,000-vehicle cap for ride-hailing service permits in May, in a bid to resolve what she called a “long-standing controversy” between traditional cabs and online service providers.

Chau, a 40-year veteran of the industry, worries that the trade, comprising 18,163 taxis and about 46,000 active cabbies, will be driven into a dead end because he believes the quota will...