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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18, 1977

TRAFFIC ON THE TWO ALL-NIGHT CROSS HARBOUR SERVICES AND THE RECREATION ROUTE BETWEEN SHA TIN AND ABERDEEN HAS CONTINUED TO

INCREASE. A NEW CROSS HARBOUR ROUTE BETWEEN NORTH POINT AND SHA TIN IS BEING PLANNED IN ANTICIPATION OF THE OPENING OF THE SHA TIN RACE COURSE,

ON LANTAU ISLAND, THE NEW LANTAU BUS COMPANY WITH A FLEET OF 45 BUSES NOW CARRIES AN AVERAGE OF 5,500 PASSENGERS A DAY. ON SUNDAYS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS TRAFFIC INCREASES BY 87 PER CENT TO 10,300. TOTAL DAILY AVERAGE MILEAGE RUN AT 2,600 IS AN INCREASE OF 10 PER CENT OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR.

THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CARRIED ON THE STAR FERRY COMPANY'S SERVICES FROM CENTRAL TO TSIM SHA TSUI AND HUNG HOM HAS REMAINED STEADY AT 137,400 PASSENGERS A DAY. THE CENTRAL TO HUNG HOM ROUTE HAS SHOWN AN IMPROVED RATE OF INCREASE OVER THE LAST EIGHT MONTHS.

ALTHOUGH FARES WERE INCREASED IN JULY THIS YEAR, TRAFFIC ON THE 14 CROSS HARBOUR PASSENGER FERRY SERVICES OPERATED BY THE HONGKONG AND YAUMATI FERRY COMPANY WENT DOWN BY ONLY 2.7 PER CENT (AS COMPARED WITH AN EIGHT PER CENT DECLINE FOR THE SAME PERIOD. OF 1976 OVER 1975). THESE SERVICES NOW CARRY 317,000 PASSENGERS PER DAY.

HOVERFERRY SERVICE WAS INTRODUCED IN MAY DURING OFF-PEAK HOURS IN THE KWUN TONG TO CENTRAL ROUTE. THE USE OF THE SHAU KEI WAN TO CENTRAL HOVERFERRY SERVICE REMAINED STEADY SINCE ITS RESUMPTION FROM OCTOBER LAST YEAR.

THE NUMBER OF MOTOR VEHICLES CARRIED ON THE THREE CROSS HARBOUR VEHICULAR ROUTES INCREASED BY 6.5 PER CENT AND THEY NOW CARRY 10,000 VEHICLES A DAY.

FOLLOWING THE FARE INCREASE, THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CARR JED BY HONGKONG TRAMWAYS LIMITED WENT DOWN BUT TRAFFIC OVER THE PAST TEN MONTHS HAS SHOWN A 6.1 PER CENT INCREASE OVER THE SAME PERIOD OF 1976. THE NUMBER OF AVERAGE DAILY PASSENGERS DURING THIS PERIOD WAS 368,000.

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE 4,350 PUBLIC LIGHT BUSES ARE NOW CARRYING AN AVERAGE OF 1.7 MILLION PASSENGERS A DAY, THIS PASSENGER VOLUME INCLUDES THE EIGHT MAXICAB' ROUTES OPERATING ON HONG KONG ISLAND WHICH CONTINUE TO PROVE POPULAR. THE 54 'MAXICABS' NOW CARRY 16,200 PASSENGERS A DAY, REPRESENTING A 51 PER CENT INCREASE IN PASSENGER VOLUME OVER THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR. THE AVERAGE DAILY MILEAGE RUN FOR THE LAST 10 MONTHS IS 9,800, REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 56 PER CENT.

THE FIRST BATCH OF NEW TERRITORIES TAXIS COMMENCED OPERATION IN OCTOBER 1976 738 ARE NOW OPERATING IN THE RURAL AREAS TO THE NORTH OF TSUEN WAN AND SHA TIN.

THERE ARE NOW 120,577 REGISTERED PRIVATE MOTOR CARS COMPARED TO 113,665 AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. THE INCREASE IN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION WORK HAS CONTINUED TO STIMULATE DEMAND FOR GOODS VEHICLES AND THERE ARE NOW 42,071 GOODS VEHICLES REPRESENTING AN INCREASE OF 16.7 PER CENT IN THE LAST YEAR.

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