XN000022-1976-12-04 — Page 3

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1976

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ON LANTAU ISLAND, THE NEW LANTAU BUS COMPANY HAS INCREASED ITS FLEET TO 44 BUSES AND NOW CARRIES AN AVERAGE OF 4,600 PASSENGERS PER DAY. ON SUNDAYS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS, TRAFFIC INCREASES BY 93 PER CENT TO 8,900.

PLANS ARE WELL ADVANCED TO INTRODUCE ADDITIONAL BUSES ON FINE WEATHER WEEKENDS TO SUPPLEMENT THE PRESENT FIVE ROUTES AND THESE ADDITIONAL BUSES COULD INCLUDE OPEN-TOP DOUBLE DECKERS OPERATING BETWEEN SILVERMINE BAY AND CHEUNG SHA BEACH SUBJECT TO A TEST RUN FEASIBILITY STUDY.

UTILISATION OF THE TWO +STAR+ FERRY COMPANY'S SERVICES FROM CENTRAL TO TSIM SHA TSUI AND HUNG HOM HAS REMAINED RELATIVELY STEADY AT 138,000 PASSENGERS PER DAY. AGREEMENT HAS BEEN REACHED FOR THE HUNG HOM SERVICE TO BE EXTENDED FOR A FURTHER PERIOD OF ONE YEAR SUBJECT TO REVIEW IN LATE 1977.

TRAFFIC ON THE 14 CROSS HARBOUR PASSENGER FERRY SERVICES OPERATED BY THE HONGKONG AND YAUMATI FERRY COMPANY HAS DECLINED BY 8.1 PER CENT DURING THE YEAR AND THESE SERVICES NOW CARRY 324,000 PASSENGERS PER DAY.

THE SERVICES LINKING MEI FOO SUN CHUEN AND KWUN TONG TO CENTRAL AND THE HOVER-FERRY SERVICE BETWEEN KOWLOON CITY AND SHAU KEI WAN REMAIN POPULAR AND PASSENGER VOLUMES ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN STEP WITH FUTURE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT.

THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS USING THE OUTLYING DISTRICTS FERRY SERVICES HAS INCREASED BY 7.6 PER CENT AND THESE NOW CARRY 45,000 PASSENGERS PER DAY.

THE RESUMPTION OF THE KOWLOON CITY TO NORTH POINT VEHICULAR FERRY SERVICE IN SEPTEMBER HAS RESULTED IN SOME TRAFFIC EXTRACTION FROM THE KWUN TONG ROUTE BUT OVERALL VEHICULAR VOLUMES ON THE THREE CROSS HARBOUR VEHICULAR SERVICES HAS INCREASED BY 8.8 PER CENT AND THE SERVICES NOW CARRY 10,000 VEHICLES PER DAY.

HONGKONG TRAMWAYS LIMITED EXPERIENCED A 17.8 PER CENT DECLINE IN TRAFFIC DURING THE FIRST QUARTER FOLLOWING THE FARES REVISION INTRODUCED IN DECEMBER 1975.

HOWEVER, MUCH OF THIS TRAFFIC HAS NOW BEEN REGAINED AND PRESENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE DAILY PASSENGER VOLUME OF 384,000 WILL INCREASE AS A RESULT OF THE FURTHER PROVISION OF TRAMWAY RESERVES DESIGNED TO INCREASE OPERATING SPEEDS AND PROVIDE QUICKER JOURNEY TIMES ALONG THE MAIN URBAN NORTH SHORE CORRIDOR.

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE 4,350 MINIBUSES ARE NOW CARRYING AN AVERAGE OF 1.59 MILLION PASSENGERS PER DAY. THE SIX +MAXI-CAE+ ROUTES OPERATING ON HONG KONG ISLAND HAVE CONTINUED TO PROVE PUPULAR AND THE 35 GREEN-LIVERY VEHICLES NOW CARRY 10,600 PASSENGERS PER DAY.

/ADDITIONAL

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