XN000022-1993-11-30 — Page 6

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1993

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ASSESSMENT OF BUS AND RAIL OPERATOR'S PERFORMANCE

THE TRANSPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE WAS TODAY (TUESDAY) BRIEFED ON AN ASSESSMENT OF THE PERFORMANCES OF THE FOUR FRANCHISED BUS OPERATORS AND THE TWO RAILWAY CORPORATIONS LAST YEAR.

THE ASSESSMENT CONDUCTED BY THE TRANSPORT DEPARTMENT SHOWED THAT SERVICES OF MASS TRANSIT RAILWAY, KOWLOON-CANTON RAILWAY AND LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT WERE OF A HIGH LEVEL OF PERFORMANCE IN TERMS OF FREQUENCY AND SAFETY STANDARD.

IT WAS NOTED THAT THE MTR SYSTEM, WHICH CARRIED AN AVERAGE OF 2.06 MILLION PASSENGERS A DAY, WAS PROBABLY THE BEST AMONG THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT MODES IN HONG KONG.

ON BUS SERVICES, THE ASSESSMENT SHOWED THAT BUSES OF BOTH KOWLOON MOTOR BUS AND CHINA MOTOR BUS WERE LESS CROWDED LAST YEAR COMPARED WITH THE YEAR BEFORE.

MEMBERS NOTED THAT KMB'S PERFORMANCE HAD BEEN CONSISTENTLY GOOD AND ONE REASON FOR THE FALL IN DAILY PATRONAGE, FROM 890 PASSENGERS PER BUS IN 1991 TO 862 LAST YEAR, WAS IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LEVEL OF SERVICE.

CMB ALSO EXPERIENCED A DROP IN PATRONAGE FROM 790 PASSENGERS PER BUS PER DAY IN 1991 TO 729 IN 1992. THIS WAS PROBABLY DUE TO KEEN COMPETITION FROM OTHER TRANSPORT OPERATORS, A LOWER VEHICLE UTILISATION AND AN INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF LOST JOURNEYS.

CMB'S ACTUAL BUS AVAILABILITY RATE AGAINST SCHEDULE DECLINED FROM 100 PER CENT IN 1991 TO 97.5 PER CENT LAST YEAR WHILE THE NUMBER OF LOST JOURNEYS INCREASED FROM 9.89 PER CENT IN 1991 TO 11.56 PER CENT LAST YEAR, MAINLY DUE TO STAFF SHORTAGE.

FOR KMB, THE BUS AVAILABILITY RATE HAD IMPROVED FROM 93.3 PER CENT IN 1991 TO 97.5 PER CENT LAST YEAR WHILE THE NUMBER OF LOST JOURNEYS DECREASED FROM 10.62 PER CENT IN 1991 TO 8.39 PER CENT IN 1992, MAINLY DUE TO THE EASING OF STAFF SHORTAGE PROBLEM.

THE PERFORMANCE OF THE NEW LANTAU BUS'S WAS CONSISTENTLY SATISFACTORY IN TERMS OF BUS AVAILABILITY AND UTILISATION RATE.

AS REGARDS CITYBUS, MEMBERS NOTED THAT THE COMPANY'S FRANCHISED OPERATION IN 1992 WAS LIMITED TO ROUTE 12A BETWEEN CENTRAL AND MACDONNELL ROAD. THERE WAS A SLIGHT INCREASE IN BUS DEFECTS AND ACCIDENTS, BUT THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THIS ROUTE HAD NOT BEEN SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECTED.

AT TODAY'S MEETING, TAC WAS ALSO BRIEFED BY THE PLANNING DEPARTMENT ON THE REVIEW OF TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY WHICH PROVIDES A PLANNING FRAMEWORK FOR THE TERRITORY UP TO THE YEAR 2011.

THE STRATEGY RECOGNISES THE NEED TO PLACE GREATER RELIANCE HIGH CAPACITY PASSENGER RAIL SYSTEMS WITHIN MAJOR URBAN AREAS.

ON

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