ENG-1980 — Page 221

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COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSPORT

A 5.46 per cent increase in patronage was recorded during the year, as the tramway retained a flat fare for adults of 30 cents and 10 cents for children on each of its five over- lapping routes, while bus fares on parallel routes were raised.

In addition, useful gains in speed and capacity were realised by the exclusion of motor and pedestrian traffic from sections of the track and, at year's end, some 10.2 kilometres of line was reserved for trams only.

Since 1888, the Peak Tramway Company has operated a cable-hauled funicular railway from Garden Road to The Peak on Hong Kong Island. There are five stations on the 1.4 kilometres line, which ascends to 397 metres above sea level, and in places negotiates a gradient of 45 per cent.

The railway is popular with tourists, and provides a direct route to the Central District for residents of The Peak. The service employs two cars, with a third available as a replacement for maintenance purposes.

During the year, a flat fare of $2 for adults and $1 for children was introduced, and patronage declined from 5,770 passengers a day in 1979 to a daily average of 5,576.

Ferries

Ferry services in Hong Kong are, for the most part, provided by two major companies - the Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company Limited and the Star Ferry Company Limited. The Hongkong and Yaumati Ferry Company operates a varied fleet of vessels on 16 cross-harbour services (three of them carrying vehicles), 15 services to outlying districts, and a coastal ferry service along the north shore of Hong Kong Island. The company has a fleet of 83 vessels comprising double and triple-deck ferries, water buses and water taxis, and high-speed hovercraft.

The Star Ferry Company has a fleet of 10 vessels, plying across the harbour_between Edinburgh Place on Hong Kong Island, and Tsim Sha Tsui and Hung Hom in Kowloon. In the months since the Mass Transit Railway was extended across Victoria Harbour in February, 1980, cross-harbour ferry services operating within the MTR catchment area have suffered significant passenger losses. Daily traffic on the Star Ferry's Tsim Sha Tsui service fell by 20 per cent compared with 1979, and HYF's cross-harbour services dropped by 10 per cent. However, despite the increased competition across the harbour, HYF is continuing to develop a wide range of services to outlying districts to cater for commuter traffic and the intense demand for travel to the outlying islands on weekends and holidays. Both ferry companies raised their fares during the year. Cross-harbour adult fares are now 50 cents on Star Ferry services, and 60 cents on the shorter HYF routes. HYF's longer routes charge ordinary-class fares up to $2, on weekdays, and surcharges are made for the air-conditioned de luxe class, and hoverferry services.

Apart from the two major ferry operators, a number of minor ferry services are licensed to small operators. In the New Territories supplementary services, known as 'kaitos' are operated in response to local demand, while in Victoria Harbour fleets of motor boats known as 'walla-wallas' are available for hire at the public piers on either shore.

Taxis

Hong Kong is served by two types of taxis: Hong Kong and Kowloon taxis, which may operate anywhere on Hong Kong Island or in Kowloon, and New Territories taxis which are restricted to rural areas in the New Territories.

During 1980, the government continued its policy of increasing the number of Hong Kong and Kowloon taxis, and at the end of the year 9,118 licences had been issued. The number