ENG-1965 — Page 236

COMMUNICATIONS

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while the unofficials are members of the public appointed in a per- sonal capacity. At the same time a new office, the Transport Office, was set up under a Commissioner for Transport. The office will serve as a secretariat to the Transport Advisory Committee and will act as a section of the Colonial Secretariat. It will also carry out executive functions concerned with studies of various transport matters. The Transport Office will receive complaints and sugges- tions from the public and submit these to the committee. It is intended that the Commissioner for Transport will assume respon- sibility for the licensing and testing of vehicles and drivers, and certain statutory responsibilities in respect of public transport services. At the end of the year the Commissioner was discussing take-over arrangements with the present authorities.

Bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories are operated by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited. At the end of 1965, their fleet totalled 1,004 vehicles, comprising 530 double- deck buses and 474 single-deck buses, after the addition during the year of 100 buses. Mid-year passenger carrying capacity was 66,660 persons, an increase of 11.3 per cent. All double-deck buses are being equipped with power-operated doors and a connected system of warning bells.

During the year 593.2 million passengers were carried and 45.67 million miles were covered by the company's buses, increases of 8.5 per cent and 13.1 per cent respectively over the previous year. At the end of the year, the company was operating a total of 64 routes (39 in Kowloon and 25 in the New Territories). With the additional new buses many existing services were also improved by increased frequencies and extended hours of service.

The construction of three-storey bus depots went ahead and by the end of the year two had been commissioned while a third was nearing completion. These depots, which will accommodate over 1,000 buses, are believed to be the first multi-storey double-decker bus depots in the world.

Bus services on Hong Kong Island are run by the China Motor Bus Company Limited which has 459 vehicles, comprising 378 single-deck and 81 double-deck buses. The total mid-year passenger carrying capacity of buses was 24,398 persons, an increase of 10.6