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Trams
COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT
The Hongkong Tramways Limited operates a tram service on five overlapping routes over 30 kilometres of track along the densely populated north shore of Hong Kong Island. During 1981, the fleet of 163 double-deck tramcars and 20 single-deck trailers carried a daily average of 434 419 passengers. A fare increase in August, which raised the flat fares from 30 cents for adults and 10 cents for children to 50 cents and 20 cents respectively, had a relatively small effect on patronage as bus fares on parallel routes had been raised earlier in April.
The Peak Tramways Company Limited has operated a cable-hauled funicular railway between Garden Road and Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island since 1888. The service stops at five intermediate stations, ascends to 397 metres above sea level on the 1.4- kilometre long line, and in places negotiates a gradient of one in two. It is popular with tourists, and provides a direct route to the Central District for residents of the Peak. The service carried 5 745 passengers a day in 1981 at a flat fare of $2 for adults and $1 for children.
Aerial Ropeways
An aerial ropeway operating in Ocean Park carries visitors between the park's lowland and headland sites. There are 240 cars on the system with a total carrying capacity of 1 440 persons. In 1981, it carried an average of 3 203 passengers a day.
Ferries
Ferry services in Hong Kong are, for the most part, provided by two major companies - the Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company Limited (HYF) and the Star Ferry_Company Limited. HYF operates a varied fleet of vessels on 17 cross harbour services, (three of which carry vehicles), 15 services to outlying districts, and two coastal ferry services along the north shore of Hong Kong Island and the western New Territories. The company has a fleet of 92 vessels comprising double and triple-deck ferries, water buses and water taxis, and high-speed hovercraft.
The Star Ferry Company has a fleet of 10 vessels, plying across the harbour between Edinburgh Place on Hong Kong Island, and Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom in Kowloon.
Since the opening of the Modified Initial System of the Mass Transit Railway (MTR) between Central District on Hong Kong Island and Kwun Tong in Kowloon in February 1980, cross-harbour passenger ferry services operating within the MTR 'catchment' area have suffered significant losses. Passenger traffic on HYF's cross-harbour services was reduced by 11 per cent in the year ending February, 1981, as compared to the same period in 1979-80, while Star Ferry traffic showed a reduction of 21 per cent. On the other hand, with the deteriorating road congestion on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island and the approach roads to the Cross Harbour Tunnel, there is a growing demand for coastal ferry services and cross-harbour vehicular ferry services. New coastal services between Chai Wan and Central District on Hong Kong Island, and between Tuen Mun and Jordan Road on the mainland were introduced in September, 1981, while a new vehicular service between Sai Wan Ho and Kwun Tong is also being planned. In the face of the increased competition across the harbour, HYF is also continuing to develop a wide range of services to outlying districts and new towns to cater for commuter traffic and recreational demand.
Due to rising operating costs, both ferry companies raised their fares on July 1,1981. Cross-harbour adult fares are now up to 60 cents on Star Ferry services, and 80 cents on the shorter HYF routes. HYF's longer routes charge ordinary-class fares up to $3 on weekdays