XN000022-1986-01-21 — Page 4

TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1986

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CMB KEEPING UP SAFETY, CLEANLINESS STANDARD

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THE CHINA MOTOR BUS COMPANY CONTINUES TO MAINTAIN A SATISFACTORY STANDARD OF SAFETY AND CLEANLINESS OF ITS BUSES, THE TRANSPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE LEARNED TODAY (TUESDAY).

THE EIGHTH PROGRESS REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE TAC WORKING GROUP ON CMB MAINTENANCE SHOWED THAT THE COMPANY'S BUSES IN DECEMBER LAST YEAR HAD AN AVERAGE OF 0.5 SAFETY DEFECT PER BUS COMPARED WITH 0.6 IN AUGUST AND 3 LAST JANUARY.

TAC ALSO NOTED THAT THE RATE OF BUS BREAKDOWNS IN NOVEMBER 1985 SHOWED A 25 PER CENT IMPROVEMENT OVER THE PERIOD IN 1984.

THE LEVEL OF BUS SERVICES PROVIDED BY THE COMPANY WAS ALSO SATISFACTORY, PARTICULARLY IN OVERALL CLEANLINESS.

MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE WERE ALSO INFORMED THAT THE CHARTERED ENGINEER EMPLOYED TO HEAD CMB'S ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT ASSUMED DUTY ON JANUARY 17.

THE TAC ALSO NOTED THAT THE COMPANY'S NEW $35 MILLION DEPOT AT WONG CHUK HANG HAD BEEN IN OPERATION SINCE DECEMBER LAST YEAR. THE NEW DEPOT. TOGETHER WITH IMPROVED FACILITIES AT THE OLD WONG CHUK HANG DEPOT AND THE JAVA ROAD DEPOT, HAVE REPLACED FACILITIES AT THE NORTH POINT UPPER DEPOT WHICH HAS BECOME SURPLUS TO REQUIREMENT.

MEMBERS WERE ALSO INFORMED THAT A BUS WITHDRAWAL PROGRAMME WAS BEING PREPARED BY CMB TO REDUCE THE ASSORTMENT OF MODELS IN

ITS BUS FLEET AND ALSO TO PHASE OUT THE AGED BUSES.

THE TAC LEARNED THAT CMB FORMALLY APPLIED ON DECEMBER 30, 1985 TO EXTEND ITS FRANCHISE FOR ANOTHER TWO YEARS UPON THE EXPIRY OF ITS CURRENT FRANCHISE ON AUGUST 31, 1987.

THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT WAS ASSESSING CMB'S OVERALL PERFORMANCE AND WOULD SOON SUBMIT CMB'S APPLICATION FOR THE TAC'S CONSIDERATION,

TAC MEMBERS ALSO HELD A PRELIMINARY DISCUSSION ON CMB'S APPLICATION FOR A FARE INCREASE. TAC HAS ESTABLISHED A SUB- COMMITTEE TO LOOK INTO THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THEIR INCREASED MAINTENANCE MEASURES AS REFLECTED IN THE COMPANY'S FARE

INCREASE PROPOSALS.

ALSO DISCUSSED AT TODAY'S MEETING WERE PENALTIES FOR VEHICLE SPEEDING OFFENCES, AND THE HONGKONG AND YAUMATI FERRY COMPANY'S APPLICATION FOR WITHDRAWAL OF ITS CHAI WAN TO KWUN TONG PASSENGER SERVICE. RECOMMENDATIONS ON THESE MATTERS WILL BE SUBMITTED TO THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL FOR CONSIDERATION.

TAC MEMBERS ALSO CONSIDERED THE ROLE OF TAXIS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES' TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE AND THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE TRANSPORT COMPLAINTS UNIT.

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