TRANSPORT
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From April, elderly passengers aged 65 and over became entitled to concessionary fares on every KMB route, except the Airbus services.
Bus services on Hong Kong Island are provided by two operators. The China Motor Bus Company (CMB) operates 91 routes on the island and, jointly with KMB, 38 cross- harbour routes. At the end of 1993, CMB's fleet comprised 991 double-deckers and 23 single-deckers. Eighty-one double-deckers and all the single-deckers were air-conditioned. They made 236 million passenger trips and travelled 48 million kilometres during the year, compared with 263 million and 52 million, respectively, the previous year. CMB purchased 20 air-conditioned double-deckers in 1993 to improve services. Fares ranged from $1.80 to $25.50. With effect from June 6, elderly passengers aged 65 and over became entitled to concessionary fares on most CMB routes. The company's franchise has been extended to August 31, 1995.
Citybus Limited (Citybus) is the other franchised operator on Hong Kong Island. The company had been running non-franchised bus services since 1979. In August 1991, it was awarded a franchise to operate a route between Central and MacDonnell Road.
To promote healthy competition among transport operators, 24 Hong Kong Island routes and two cross-harbour tunnel routes, withdrawn from CMB, were awarded to Citybus under a three-year franchise which took effect on September 1, 1993. The cross- harbour routes are operated jointly with KMB. At the end of the year, Citybus had a fleet of 200 franchised double-decker buses, of which half were air-conditioned. Fares ranged from $1.80 to $4.50 for non-air-conditioned trips, and from $2.50 to $12.00 for air- conditioned services. Elderly passengers aged 60 and over became entitled to concessionary fares from September on Hong Kong Island routes. Overall, Citybus's franchised bus services made 22 million passenger trips and travelled 3.6 million kilometres during the year.
The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited (NLB) operates six regular, and one recreational, franchised routes on Lantau Island, with a fleet of 51 single-decker and five double-decker buses. Most NLB services connect with the ferries at Mui Wo. Operational efficiency was improved in September 1991 by the opening of a new bus depot in Mui Wo. The average weekday patronage rate for NLB in 1993 was 8 920 passengers. Boosted by recreational traffic, the average patronage on Sundays and public holidays was 21 847 passengers. Fares ranged from $1.20 to $21.00. With effect from September, elderly passengers aged 65 and above can pay' half-fare on all NLB services on Mondays to Saturdays, except public holidays. To meet peak recreational demand, NLB introduced (in June 1991) a special service between Mui Wo and Po Lin Monastery, using air-conditioned coaches ferried to Lantau at weekends. During the year, the average patronage on this special service was 3 605 passengers per day. In July, NLB was awarded a new two-year franchise until March 31, 1997.
Minibuses
Hong Kong's minibuses are licensed to carry a maximum of 16 seated passengers. There were 6 904 minibuses in 1993. Of these, 4 350 were public light buses (PLB), and 2 554 private light buses. The PLBs are authorised to carry passengers at separate fares. The private light buses are authorised only to carry group passengers and the collection of separate fares is not permitted.
The operation of PLBs is regulated by a passenger service licence. There are two types of PLBs. Green PLBs provide services according to fixed schedules. There were 1 620 of these,