WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 1978
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PLAN TO IMPROVE BUS SERVICES IN KOWLOON
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THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT AND THE KOWLOON MOTOR BUS COMPANY HAVE AGREED ON A PROGRAMME TO IMPROVE EXISTING BUS SERVICES AND TO INTRODUCE NEW ROUTES IN KOWLOON THIS YEAR FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF AN ASSESSMENT ON THE ADEQUACY OF BUS SERVICES FOR URBAN AREAS OF KOWLOON.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT SAID IMPROVEMENTS BY MEANS OF USING LARGER CAPACITY BUSES AND INCREASING FREQUENCIES WILL BE INTRODUCED ON EIGHT EXISTING ROUTES COVERING LAM TIN, SAU MAU PING, TSZ WAN SHAN, LOK FU, CHEUNG SHA WAN AND LAI CHI KOK.
SEVEN NEW ROUTES ARE ALSO PLANNED, SOME TO CATER FOR THE DEMAND GENERATED BY NEW HOUSING DEVELOPMENTS IN TAI WOH PING, CHOI WAN ESTATE AND SHUN LEE ESTATE WHICH WILL BE OCCUPIED BY THE MIDDLE OF THIS YEAR.
OTHER NEW SERVICES WILL BE AVAILABLE TO AREAS NOT SERVED BY BUSES BEFORE AND WILL BE OPERATED WHEN NEW ROADS SUITABLE FOR THE OPERATION OF BUSES ARE COMPLETED.
THE EXPERIMENTAL BUS ROUTE 11A INTRODUCED LAST YEAR, WILL BE CANCELLED.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID THAT DURING THE EXPERIMENTAL PERIOD, THE AVERAGE OCCUPANCY OF THIS PEAK-HOUR ONLY SERVICE HAS BEEN VERY LOW.
HE SAID THAT THE RESIDENTS OF KOWLOON BAY TEMPORARY HOUSING AREA HAD EXPRESSED DISSATISFACTION WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL DIVERSION OF ROUTE 15A WHICH THEY CONSIDERED OF LIMITED USE ONLY.
A SURVEY CARRIED OUT LAST MONTH SHOWED THAT THE PATRONAGE ALONG WAI YIP STREET HAD INCREASED BY 16 PER CENT ON BOTH TZE WAN SHAN BOUND AND LAM TIN BOUND JOURNEYS SINCE THE DIVERSION OF THE BUS ROUTE IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR.
THE SPOKESMAN ADDED THAT IN VIEW OF THE INCREASED DEMAND, ROUTE 15A WOULD CONTINUE OPERATING ALONG WAI YIP STREET.
HE SAID THAT IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO MEET THE REQUEST OF THE KOWLOON BAY 2ND, 3RD AND 4TH VILLAGE TRAFFIC IMPROVEMENT ACTION GROUP FOR A DIRECT BUS SERVICE TO JORDAN ROAD AND THEIR WORK PLACE AT HONG KONG TEXTILE FACTORY IN CASTLE PEAK ROAD.
HOWEVER, HE POINTED OUT THAT A NEW BUS SERVICE BETWEEN KWUN TONG AND CHEUNG SHA WAN IS INCLUDED IN THE ROUTE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME FOR 1978. THIS ROUTE WILL OPERATE ALONG WAI YIP STREET AND WILL BE USEFUL FOR PASSENGERS WISHING TO GO TO CASTLE PEAK ROAD.
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