CMB_1988 — Page 9

Facilities For Passengers

Additional bus shelters were erected during the year after consultation with Transport Department and District Offices as to suitable locations.

The "hotline" telephone enquiry service received over 133,000 calls during the year.

Inland Lot 5532, Tsat Tse Mui Road, and Inland Lot 7178, King's Road, North Point

The Company's application to the Town Planning Board for permission under Section 16 of the Town Planning Ordinance Cap. 131 to redevelop I.L. 5532 and I.L. 7178 into residential, office and retail complexes has been approved on the basis of the submitted Revised Master Layout Plan subject to a number of conditions. Most of the technical planning requirements have been settled and it is intended that the matter of the Crown Lands title documentation for the redevelopment sites will next be addressed by the Company.

Future Outlook

Our future plans provide for the extension of existing bus routes and the introduction of new routes to meet the passenger demand in the new estates which will be constructed over the next few years in Eastern and Southern Districts of Hong Kong Island. Some of the demand in these new estates will arise as a result of residents moving away from the older residential areas. This feature will require existing services to be rationalised to cater for a reduction in patronage in those areas.

In the later part of 1989, the opening of the new Eastern Harbour Tunnel will facilitate further expansion of the cross harbour bus route network and planning is now in progress for the introduction of new bus routes through the new tunnel.

Conditions in the operating environment are likely to have a detrimental effect on our services however. It is of great concern that no lasting solution has been devised by the Government to the serious problem of traffic congestion in the urban areas. I drew attention to this problem in my Statement last year but, although the traffic management improvements which have been introduced have proved beneficial to specific bus services, there has been a consequential deterioration in traffic flow on neighbouring roads which has affected other bus services. Unless traffic flow can be drastically improved, the reliability of our bus services will be jeopardised. We must therefore call upon the Government to take swift, effective action to tackle the traffic congestion problem in urban areas.

The recent policy decision by the Government to increase the seating capacity of public light buses from 14 to 16 passengers will not only abstract passengers from our buses but will also cause traffic flow to deteriorate further.

Therefore, if the community's aspirations for a reliable bus service are to be met in the future it is imperative that the Government takes radical action to enable buses to run more freely on Hong Kong Island.

Appreciation

The two Directors appointed by the Governor under the Public Bus Services Ordinance were the Commissioner for Transport, Mr. James SO Yiu-cho, J.P. and the Deputy Secretary for Transport (Transport Services), Mrs. Alice LAI SIU Po-chun. On behalf of the shareholders and my fellow directors I would like to record my appreciation of their participation in the decision-making process.

In conclusion, I would like to thank our loyal staff for their dedication and hard work during the year.

Hong Kong, 28th October, 1988

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NGAN Shing-kwan Chairman