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Transport
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 gaps which cannot be met by regular public transport services, and provide tailor-made services to specific groups of passengers. They serve mainly tourists, estate residents, employees and students. At the year end, there were 7,043 registered non-franchised public buses.
Public Light Buses
Public light buses (PLBs) are currently licensed to carry a maximum of 16 passengers each. The number of PLBs has been capped at 4,350 since 1976. They together provide about 1.83 million passenger trips per day.
There are two types of PLBs - green minibuses (GMBs) and red minibuses (RMBs). GMBs provide scheduled services with fixed routes, fares, vehicle allocation and timetables as stipulated by the Transport Department. At the year end, 3,254 GMBs were operating 354 routes, recording a daily average of 1,527,000 passenger trips. RMBs are not required to operate on fixed routes or timetables and may set their own fares but are subject to restrictions on their operating areas. There were 1,096 RMBS in operation at the year end, recording a daily average of 307,300 passenger trips.
Taxis
At the year end, there were 15,250 red urban taxis, 2,838 green New Territories taxis and 75 blue Lantau taxis, carrying about 930,000 passengers per day. There were about 760 taxi stands and designated taxi pick-up/drop-off points.
The Transport Department and the Quality Taxi Services Steering Committee jointly hold an annual Quality Taxi Drivers Commendation Scheme to give due recognition to good taxi drivers.
Private cars
At the year end, there were 536,025 licensed private cars, of which 41,182 were new vehicles registered during 2016.
Road Transport Management
Effective transport management is essential for the orderly and safe operation of the transport system. Modern technology is used in a variety of ways to enhance transport management.
Licensing
At the year end, there were 2,229,183 licensed drivers, 739,390 licensed private vehicles and 6,287 government vehicles. The licensed private vehicles comprised 50,227 motorcycles and motor tricycles, 536,025 private cars, 18,152 taxis, 12,925 public buses, 646 private buses, 4,347 PLBs, 3,102 private light buses, 70,336 light goods vehicles, 36,200 medium goods vehicles, 5,816 heavy goods vehicles and 1,614 special purpose vehicles. On average, 4,800 new learners' driving licences were issued per month.
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