TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 1977
BUS COMPANIES CARRY RECORD NUMBER OF PASSENGERS
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THE THREE BUS COMPANIES, THE KOWLOON MOTOR BUS, THE CHINA MOTOR BUS AND THE LANTAU BUS COMPANIES, NOW CARRY AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 2.6 MILLION PASSENGERS PER DAY AN ALL-TIME RECORD.
ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT, THE THREE BUS COMPANIES LAST YEAR CARRIED A TOTAL OF 948.69 MILLION PASSENGERS, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 97.65 MILLION OR ABOUT 11.5 PER CENT WHEN COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS YEAR'S FIGURE.
A DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN SAID THE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF PUBLIC BUS USERS WAS DUE TO IMPROVED SERVICES AND LARGER OPERATING FLEETS+.
THE KOWLOON MOTOR BUS LAST YEAR CARRIED A RECORD 716.43 MILLION PASSENGERS, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 13 PER CENT OVER THE TOTAL FOR 1975.
THE COMPANY NOW HAS A FLEET OF 1,700 BUSES, AN INCREASE OF NINE PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR FIGURE. THE CARRYING CAPACITY HAS RISEN BY 10 PER CENT MAINLY DUE TO THE DELIVERY OF MODERN HIGH-CAPACITY DOUBLE DECKERS.
SOME 200 +JUMBO+ BUSES HAVE BEEN ORDERED AND ARE SCHEDULED FOR DELIVERY THIS YEAR.
LAST YEAR THE COMPANY, WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT, INTRODUCED 16 NEW BUS ROUTES, BRINGING THE TOTAL NUMBER OF ROUTES OPERATED TO 150. THE NUMBER OF EXPRESS COACH SERVICES INCREASED AND THE 150 ROUTES NOW CARRY OVER 30,000 PASSENGERS PER DAY.
AT THE SAME TIME, THE CHINA MOTOR BUS COMPANY CARRIED SOME 230.57 MILLION PASSENGERS, AN INCREASE OF ABOUT SEVEN PER CENT OVER 1975.
AS AT THE END OF LAST YEAR, THE COMPANY'S FLEET TOTALLED 702 VEHICLES OR AN INCREASE OF 11.6 PER CENT (75 BUSES) OVER THE PRECEDING YEAR. SOME 100 NEW BUSES ARE ON ORDER.
THE 44 BUSES (AN INCREASE OF THREE PER CENT OVER THE PREVIOUS YEAR) ON LANTAU ISLAND CARRIED SOME 1.7 MILLION PASSENGERS IN 1976, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 23 PER CENT OVER 1975.
PASSENGER TRAFFIC ON THE ISLAND IS USUALLY HEAVY ON WEEKENDS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS DURING WHICH THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CARRIED EXCEEDED THOSE OF WEEKDAYS BY 150 PER CENT.