ENG-1996 — Page 316

TRANSPORT

244

day, mostly sightseers and some residents in The Peak. One-way fares for adults and children were $15 and $4 respectively.

Ferries

Ferries are essential for travelling to Hong Kong's outlying islands and provide an important link to the new towns in the north-western New Territories. In the inner harbour, they are a supplementary mode of transport to cross-harbour buses and the Mass Transit Railway. Existing services are provided largely by two franchised operators the Star Ferry Company Limited and the Hongkong & Yaumati Ferry Company Limited (HYF).

―

The Star Ferry operated 12 vessels across the harbour and carried 96 500 passengers on its three routes daily during the year. Fares ranged from $1.70 to $2.50. Passengers aged 65 and above can enjoy free travel on all Star Ferry services.

HYF owns 83 vessels and operates 24 ferry routes, including passenger and vehicular services and chartered services. In 1996, the company carried 90 000 passengers and 1 700 vehicles daily. Fares ranged from $4.40 to $30. Elderly passengers aged 65 or above can enjoy concessionary fares, set at the same level as children's fares, on all ferry services except the deluxe class.

A further 19 other ferry services were operated by eight licensed operators, including the service to Discovery Bay on Lantau. These were supplemented by kaitos, or local village ferry services, which were licensed to serve remote coastal settlements. At the end of the year, 88 kaitos were in operation.

Road Passenger Transport

Road passenger transport accounted for two-thirds of all public transport journeys. Of the public transport journeys made by road, over half were on franchised buses, and the remainder on green minibuses, public light buses, taxis and non-franchised buses.

Franchised Buses

The standard and capacity of franchised bus services continued to improve through effective planning and co-ordination. In 1996, the four franchised companies carried 3.66 million passengers daily on a network of 464 routes. To meet the demand of the new town at Tung Chung and new airport at Chek Lap Kok, franchises to operate a total of 25 new routes were awarded in 1996 to Long Win Holdings Ltd and Citybus Ltd. The first batch of these new routes will come into operation by June 1997.

The largest operator is the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB). It runs 300 bus routes in Kowloon and the New Territories; 37 cross-harbour routes jointly with the China Motor Bus Company (CMB); 10 cross-harbour routes with Citybus Limited and seven cross-harbour routes of its own. KMB also provides 'Airbus' services to and from the airport, operating three routes to Hong Kong Island and two within Kowloon.

The KMB fleet at the end of the year comprised 3 597 registered vehicles, with 2 363 double-decker conventional buses, and 949 air-conditioned double-decker and 285 single-decker buses. Of these, two were 'super' single-deck low-floor buses with provision for wheelchair passengers.