XN000022-1976-12-15 — Page 4

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WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1976

MORE MAXICAB ROUTES TO COME INTO OPERATION SOON

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MAJOR REVISIONS WILL BE INTRODUCED ON THREE EXISTING MAXICAB ROUTES FROM FRIDAY (DECEMBER 17) IN ORDER TO PROVIDE MORE CONVENIENT SERVICES.

THE THREE MAXICAB SERVICES WHICH WILL BE AFFECTED ARE ROUTES 4, 5 AND 6. THESE SERVICES BEGAN OPERATION IN JULY 1975.

THE CHANGES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED IN TWO STAGES. UNDER THE FIRST STAGE, MAXICAB ROUTE 4 WHICH FORMERLY OPERATED FROM ABERDEEN VIA SHOUSON HILL TO CENTRAL WILL BE DIVERTED TO OPERATE FROM ABERDEEN VIA SHOUSON HILL TO CAUSEWAY BAY (KESWICK STREET) SO AS TO RELIEVE THE TRAFFIC ON ROUTE 5 WHICH IS ABERDEEN TO CAUSEWAY BAY (JARDINE'S CRESCENT) VIA NAM FUNG ROAD.

TO MAKE GOOD THE LOSS IN CARRYING CAPACITY AS A RESULT OF THE DIVERSION OF ROUTE 4 AWAY FROM SHOUSON HILL, ROUTE 6 WILL BE IMPROVED TO OPERATE ON A BASIC 30-MINUTE FREQUENCY ON WEEKDAYS WITH A 15-MINUTE FREQUENCY DURING PEAK HOURS BETWEEN SHOUSON HILL AND CENTRAL.

ROUTES 4 AND 6 WILL NOT OPERATE ALONG STUBBS ROAD AS ROAD WORK ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF BENDS ARE IMMINENT AND INSTEAD WILL OPERATE VIA BLUE POOL ROAD AND HAPPY VALLEY.

SPECIAL JOURNEYS WILL BE OPERATED TO OCEAN PARK ON SUNDAYS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS FROM CAUSEWAY BAY (KESWICK STREET) AND CENTRAL (STAR FERRY).

THE SECOND STAGE CONSISTS OF THE INTRODUCTION OF TWO NEW ROUTES BETWEEN ABERDEEN AND SHEK PAI WAN (CIRCULAR)(TO BE KNOWN AS MAXICAB ROUTE 7) AND BETWEEN MT. NICHOLSON AND CENTRAL (STAR FERRY) (TO BE KNOWN AS MAXICAB ROUTE 8) IN EARLY JANUARY 1977.

THE INTRODUCTION OF ROUTE 7 IS INTENDED TO CATER FOR RESIDENTS OF SHEK PAI WAN AND YUE KWONG ESTATES. WITH A TERMINUS IN TSUNG MAN STREET THE ROUTE WILL OPERATE VIA TUNG SING ROAD, ABERDEEN MAIN ROAD, ABERDEEN RESERVOIR ROAD TO YUE KWONG ROAD, CIRCLING SHEK PAI WAN ESTATE CLOCKWISE BEFORE RETURNING TO TSUNG MAN STREET IN ITS 2.2 MILE CIRCULAR JOURNEY. THE FARE WILL BE 30 CENTS PER SINGLE JOURNEY.

THE INTRODUCTION OF ROUTE 8 WILL PROVIDE A 30-MINUTE FREQUENCY SERVICE TO MEET THE DEMAND OF MT. NICHOLSON RESIDENTS FOR A PUBLIC TRANSPORT SERVICE TO HAPPY VALLEY AND CENTRAL VIA THE WATERFRONT ROAD. THE NEW ROUTE WILL OPERATE AT A $1 FARE.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT SAID TODAY THAT THE SIX EXISTING MAXICAB ROUTES ON HONG KONG ISLAND WERE NOW OPERATED BY 40 VEHICLES CARRYING AN AVERAGE OF 10,000 PASSENGERS DAILY.

HE SAID: +IN ADDITION TO THE TWO NEW ROUTES BEING INTRODUCED IN JANUARY, MANY OTHER ROUTES WERE IN THE PLANNING STAGE. NO NEW PLB LICENCÉS WERE BEING ISSUED AND EXISTING OPERATORS WERE BEING ENCOURAGED TO DIVERSIFY INTO THESE NEW FEEDER OPERATIONS.+

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