ENG-1990 — Page 290

TRANSPORT

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Franchised Buses

The standard and capacity of franchised bus services continued to improve through effective planning and co-ordination. There are three franchised bus companies which together carried 3.4 million passenger boardings a day on a network of 353 regular routes.

The largest bus operator is the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (KMB), which ran 260 bus routes in Kowloon and the New Territories in addition to 22 cross-harbour routes operated jointly with the China Motor Bus Company (CMB) and one cross-harbour route of its own. KMB also operates 'Airbus' services to and from the airport, comprising two routes to Hong Kong Island and two within Kowloon.

The KMB fleet at the end of the year comprised 2 887 registered vehicles, including 2 716 double-deckers and 171 single-deckers of various types ranging from small 24 seaters to full-size coaches for airport and express duties. The company further expanded its air-conditioned fleet, and by the end of the year this included 152 single-deckers and 22 double-deckers which were together deployed on 17 routes. During the year 18 new routes were introduced, but in an endeavour to save costs two routes were also withdrawn. In 1990, KMB carried 966 million passengers and operated 195.3 million vehicle-kilometres, compared with 974 million passengers and 201 million vehicle-kilometres in 1989. The Kowloon Motor Bus Company's franchise extends until August 31, 1997. Fares ranged from $1.20 to $12.

Bus services on Hong Kong Island are provided by the China Motor Bus Company, which operated 87 Island routes and, jointly with KMB, 22 cross-harbour routes. At the end of 1990, the CMB's fleet comprised 1 022 double-deckers and four single-deckers. These vehicles carried 281 million passengers and travelled 51.7 million vehicle-kilometres during the year compared with 299 million and 50 million respectively in 1989. The company continued to expand its fleet of three-axle double-deckers during the year, 37 were added and 29 more were under construction or on order. Some of the new double-deckers are air-conditioned, and the first of these entered service in July. The company's franchise extends until August 31, 1993. Fares ranged from $1.20 to $7.

The New Lantao Bus Company (NLB) operates six regular and two recreational routes on Lantau Island. The NLB's fleet comprised 59 buses at the end of the year, of which 13 were double-deckers. During the year the company carried 8 647 passengers on an average weekday, but on Sundays and public holidays recreational travel raised average ridership to 20 432. A new depot at Mui Wo opens in 1990. Fares ranged from $1.50 to $17.

Minibuses

Hong Kong's minibuses are licensed to carry a maximum of 16 seated passengers. There were 6904 minibuses in 1990. Of these, 4 350 were public light buses (PLB), and 2 554 private light buses. The PLBs are authorised to carry passengers at separate fares. The private light buses are only authorised to carry group passengers and the collection of separate fares is not permitted.

The operation of PLBs is regulated by a passenger service licence. There are two types of PLBs. Those in green livery provide services according to official schedules. In 1990, there were 1 379 of them operating on 188 approved routes, each with fixed fares and timetables. They carried 683 000 passengers a day. Red PLBs operate without a schedule. They do not have fixed routes, timetables and fares. In 1990, there were about 2971 red PLBs which carried 1 061 000 passengers daily.