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COMMUNICATIONS
Bus Services. Bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories are operated by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Ltd. At the end of the year, the company's fleet totalled 866 vehicles comprising 433 single-deck buses, 425 double-deck buses and eight tour coaches. The total passenger carrying capacity of these buses was 54,367. During the year further orders were placed for 80 double-deck 110-passenger buses.
The largest bus so far seen in the Colony was introduced by the company in January when the first of an order of 30 double- deck buses licensed to carry 110 passengers was put on the road. As an experiment a modification was made to two of these buses to carry more standing passengers down-stairs, bringing the total capacity to 120 passengers.
During the year 514.2 million passengers were carried and 39.6 million miles were covered by the company's buses, an increase of 31.7 million passengers (6.57 per cent) and one million miles (2.6 per cent) over the previous year. At the end of the year, the company was operating a total of 62 routes (36 in Kowloon and 25 in the New Territories and one on Lantau Island). This was an increase of three routes over the previous year.
Bus services on Hong Kong Island are run by the China Motor Bus Company Ltd. At the end of the year, the company maintained a fleet of 360 vehicles comprising 327 single-deck, 31 double-deck buses and two coaches. The total passenger carrying capacity of buses was 19,768. These buses carried 143 million passengers and covered 14.2 million miles, an increase of nine million passengers (6.7 per cent) and 0.6 million miles (4.2 per cent) over the previous year. The first double-deck bus was introduced on the Island on 22nd January and at the end of the year there were 31 double-deck buses in operation on most major routes. An order for a further 20 double-deckers was placed, delivery of which has already commenced. A new depot was com- pleted during the year at North Point and a site for a new garage with an area of 33,400 square feet was purchased at Chai Wan. The company was operating a total of 28 routes at the end of the year including two holiday services and a special service on race days. Total route mileage was 269 miles.
Within the urban areas both bus companies charge two fares. The lower fare is 10 cents and the length of this stage is roughly