CONFIDENTIAL #
XCC(80)73
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The Background to the Present Recommendations
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The Island Corridor Action Group noted that buses, trams and PLBs together carry an average of 1.3 million passengers along the corridor each day. This represents about 70% of the total passenger movement along the corridor, but the buses, trams and PLBS comprise only 25% of all passenger vehicular movements. Therefore, the Action Group concluded that efforts to bring about an improvement in travel conditions in this section of the corridor should concentrate on maximising the use of public transport, by improving the efficiency of the service provided.
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On 29th January 1980, after considering memorandum XCC(80)15, the Governor-in-Council approved the terms of formal Agreements with the two main franchised bus companies to improve the standard of their services. Both these Agreements, provide, inter alia, that the Government will :-
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... pursue a policy of protection to on-street omnibuses, the target being to provide bus priority measures to enable CMB/KMB to achieve route journey speeds of at least 10 m. p.h. (16 km/h) in normal circumstances (or such speeds as may be mutually agreed by the parties hereto on a route by route basis)."
Consultants employed by the Commissioner for Transport have measured morning and evening peak-hour bus journey speeds along the Eastern Island Corridor routes, where bus speeds were found to range from 9 km/h to 15 km/h during the morning peak period (westbound) and from 7 km/h to 13 km/h during the evening peak period (eastbound). Thus, considerable improvement is required if the Government is to meet its obligations under the Memorandum of Understanding.
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The Action Group considered that the best prospect of improving public transport lay in providing greater segregation of bus and tram routes from other traffic. Such measures could be implemented fairly quickly and at a relatively modest cost. As an indication of the effectiveness of such measures, the introduction of the present bus-only lane on King's Road, between Model Lane and Shu Kuk Street, doubled average bus speeds over a one-kilometre stretch.
G.S. 166
CONFIDENTIAL
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