Transport | 241
kilometres of roads in 2008. At year-end, 157 air-conditioned buses were serving a total of 18 routes of which 154 were wheelchair-accessible.
The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited mainly provides bus services on Lantau Island. The company recorded 17.2 million passenger trips (a daily average of 47 000 passenger trips) covering 5.8 million kilometres of road. It ran 22 routes with a licensed fleet of 102 vehicles.
Different forms of fare concessions are provided by the franchised bus companies during the year. For example, all franchised bus companies offered concessionary fares for children aged under 12 and elderly passengers on all routes (except recreational routes operated by CTB).
Bus-to-bus interchange schemes are being implemented to encourage more efficient use of resources and limited road space, and to provide more choice for passengers. Fare discounts are offered to passengers when interchanging between designated bus routes. At year-end, a total of 229 bus-to-bus interchange schemes were in operation, involving about 400 routes.
Non-franchised Buses
Non-franchised bus services play a supplementary role in the public transport system. They relieve heavy demand on regular public transport services primarily during peak hours, fill the gaps which cannot be met by regular public transport services and provide tailor-made services to specific groups of passengers. They mainly serve tourists, groups of residents, employees and students. At year-end, there were 7 071 registered non-franchised buses of which 6 957 were in operation.
Based on the recommendations of the Transport Advisory Committee's review of the licensing and regulatory framework for non-franchised bus operation completed in July 2004, the Government continued to implement measures to improve the regulation of non-franchised bus operation in 2008. The measures aim at co-ordinating the change in non-franchised bus services with demand; strengthening control over non-franchised bus operation; and enhancing effectiveness and efficiency of enforcement actions.
Public Light Buses
Hong Kong's public light buses (PLBs) are licensed to carry a maximum of 16 passengers. At year-end, there were 4 350 PLBs.
There are two types of PLBs green and red minibuses. Green minibuses provide scheduled services with fixed routes, fares, vehicle allocation and timetables as stipulated by the Transport Department. During the year, there were 2 921 green minibuses operating 350 routes, which recorded a daily average of 1 481 000 passenger trips. Red minibuses are not required to operate on fixed routes or timetables. They may set their own fares but are subject to certain restrictions on their operating areas. There were 1429 red minibuses in operation and they recorded a daily average of 399 400 passenger trips during the year.