ENG-1970 — Page 227

COMMUNICATIONS

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fares are $1.50 for the first mile or any part of it and 20 cents for every subsequent fifth of a mile. In Kowloon the fare is $1 for the first mile and 20 cents for every subsequent quarter of a mile. At the end of the year, there was a total of 3,406 licensed taxis in the Colony: 2,235 in Kowloon and 1,171 on Hong Kong Island.

Public and private omnibuses operate bus services other than those provided by the major bus companies and light buses. Such services include sight-seeing tours, limousine services provided by hotels and school-bus services. At the end of the year there were 898 public omnibuses and 406 private omnibuses. Public omnibuses are hired for the carriage of passengers under a contract or at a distinct fare for a predetermined route in accordance with the licence granted. Private omnibuses are not allowed to carry passengers for hire or reward.

FERRY SERVICES

The Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company Limited operates a fleet of 61 diesel-engined ferries, 14 of which are vehicle ferries. The company maintains 10 routes in the harbour between Hong Kong Island and Kowloon, as well as services to New Territories and outlying islands. The number of vehicles carried by the com- pany across the harbour during the year totalled 6,088,627.

In July this year the Company introduced its first dual-purpose triple-decked ferry 'Man Shing'. On the top deck of the ferry there is an air-conditioned restaurant complete with night club facilities. Besides serving as a cross-harbour ferry, the 'Man Shing' is used on harbour cruises in the evenings and on excursion trips to the outlying islands at week-ends.

The Star Ferry Company Limited runs a passenger ferry service across the harbour between Victoria City on Hong Kong Island and Tsim Sha Tsui on the southern tip of the Kowloon Peninsula. The company uses 10 vessels on this service with a total passenger- carrying capacity of 5,643. Supplementary services are operated to cope with the daily peak hour traffic and to relieve congestion at the ferry concourses. During 1970 56.6 million passengers were carried.