TUESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1986
KMB'S FIVE-YEAR PLAN TO BE STUDIED
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THE KOWLOON MOTOR BUS COMPANY'S FIVE-YEAR PLAN 1987-1991 WILL COME UNDER CLOSE SCRUTINY BY A SUB-COMMITTEE OF THE TRANSPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
AT THE TAC MEETING TODAY (TUESDAY), MEMBERS AGREED THAT THE TERMS OF REFERENCE OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE SHOULD BE TO STUDY THE FORMULATION AND THE ASSESSMENT OF THE FIVE-YEAR PLAN OF KMB WITH PARTICULAR REGARD TO ROUTE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, FLEET REQUIREMENT, DEPOT REQUIREMENT, OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY AND PROFIT CONTROL SCHEME AND TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE TAC IN RESPECT OF THE ACCEPTABILITY OF THE PLAN.
THE SUB-COMMITTEE NOTED THAT ANY RECOMMENDATIONS RESULTING FROM THE REVIEW COULD BE CONSIDERED FOR INCORPORATION INTO THE PLANNING OF KMB'S FIVE-YEAR PLAN (1988-1992) ONLY IF THESE COULD BE SUBMITTED TO THE TAC NOT LATER THAN FEBRUARY 1987.
UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SUB-COMMITTEE CONSIDERED THAT THE REVIEW WOULD INITIALLY NEED TO FOCUS ON KMB'S ROUTE DEVELOPMENT PLAN, ITS FLEET REQUIREMENTS AND DEPOT REQUIREMENTS AND THAT ITS RECOMMENDATIONS IN THIS REGARD WOULD BE SUBMITTED TO TAC WITHIN THE TIME-SCALE PROPOSED BY THE TAC.
THE REMAINING ITEMS WOULD BE EXAMINED IN DETAIL BY THE SUB- COMMITTEE THEREAFTER IN ORDER TO COVER THE FULL SCOPE OF THE REVIEW.
THE SUB-COMMITTEE IS CHAIRED BY DR STEPHEN TANG. ITS MEMBERS ARE MR STEPHEN CHENG, MR FAN SAI-YEE AND DR LEUNG CHI-KEUNG. IT HELD ITS FIRST MEETING ON DECEMBER 11.
THE SUB-COMMITTEE WILL INVITE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND STAFF OF KMB TO ATTEND FUTURE MEETINGS OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE AS APPROPRIATE TO PROVIDE NECESSARY INFORMATION AND EXPERT ADVICE RELATING TO THE REVIEW.
TAC MEMBERS ALSO CONSIDERED THE NEED FOR LEGISLATION TO MAINTAIN SAFE AND EFFICIENT USE OF THE STRATEGIC ROAD NETWORK AS RECOMMENDED BY A SUB-GROUP OF THE WORKING GROUP ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF TRAFFIC SURVEILLANCE AND CONTROL STUDY.
MEMBERS NOTED THAT EXPRESSWAYS ARE ROADS CONSTRUCTED TO A HIGHER STANDARD THAN OTHER ROADS, ESSENTIALLY FOR THE USE OF MOTOR VEHICLES. BECAUSE OF THE STANDARDS OF DESIGN ADOPTED, TRAVEL SPEEDS ALONG THESE ROADS ARE HIGHER THAN WOULD NORMALLY BE EXPECTED ON OTHER ROADS.
IN ORDER TO ENSURE THAT THE MAXIMUM BENEFITS AND LOW ACCIDENT RISK ARE ACHIEVED, CERTAIN LEGISLATION APPLYING SPECIFICALLY TO EXPRESSWAYS IS NECESSARY.
/AT PRESENT,