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COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT

There are also off-street parking facilities operated by private enterprise in 11 multi-storey car parks with spaces for 6,000 vehicles-mostly in the commercial/ residential areas of Causeway Bay, North Point, Tsim Sha Tsui, Mong Kok and San Po Kong. More are being built or planned.

On-street parking spaces are provided where they do not cause any traffic obstruction. In areas with limited available spaces but with high demand, the spaces are metered to deter long-term parking. There are about 11,000 metered spaces and payment is required from 8 am till midnight. In many areas parking is controlled by traffic wardens who, with the police, operate a fixed penalty ticketing system for parking offences.

Public Transport

Hong Kong has a comprehensive public transport system comprising omnibuses, light buses, ferries, trams, taxis and trains. Hong Kong Island is served by the China Motor Bus Company (CMB), Hongkong Tramways and the Peak Tramways Company, while Kowloon and the mainland part of the New Territories are served by the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB) and the Kowloon-Canton Railway. Both CMB and KMB also operate joint cross-harbour services using the cross-harbour tunnel. The New Lantau Bus Company operates on Lantau Island. A network of cross-harbour and outlying island ferry services is run by the Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company, while the Star Ferry Company operates cross-harbour services from Central to Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom. Passenger traffic carried by each of the undertakings during the past three years is listed in Appendix 36.

Buses

Public omnibus services in Hong Kong are operated under franchise. The three private companies provide services on specified routes with schedules of service laid down by the Transport Department covering route, timetable, faretable, journey distance, journey time and vehicle allocation.

The Kowloon Motor Bus Company operates services throughout Kowloon and the mainland area of the New Territories as well as 14 joint services through the cross-harbour tunnel with the China Motor Bus Company on a pooled mileage basis. With continued fleet expansion and the introduction of new routes, the company carried an all-time record number of passengers during the year and operated 70 million miles. Average daily passenger traffic rose by 13 per cent to 2.0 million and 16 additional routes were introduced, making a total of 150 routes. All fares remained unchanged. The services include 15 express coach routes, two of which operate to and from the international airport at Kai Tak. These coach services all have guaranteed seating and are intended as an attractive alternative to private transport. They carried an average of 26,513 passengers a day throughout the year. The company's licensed fleet was increased from 1,560 to 1,700 vehicles, comprising 1,202 double-deck buses, 396 single-deck buses and 102 coaches. Some 82 per cent are now one-man operated, using an exact fare system. The new vehicles increased the total carrying capacity by 10 per cent to 154,537. At the end of the year the company had on order