ENG-1998 — Page 302

TRANSPORT

238

along the northern shore of Hong Kong Island between Kennedy Town and Shau Kei Wan, and about three kilometres of single track around Happy Valley.

The company's 164 trams, including two open-balcony trams for tourists and private hire and one special maintenance tram, make up the world's only fully double-decker tram fleet. The trams carried an average of 254 500 passenger trips daily in 1998. Fares were $2 for adults and $1 for children under 12 and senior citizens aged 65 or above.

The company engaged consultancy studies in 1997 to examine suitable measures to further improve the safety and operation of the tramway. Recommendations from the studies were being introduced in phases.

Peak Tram

Hong Kong's other tramway is a cable-hauled funicular railway operated by the Peak Tramways Company Limited from Central (Garden Road) to the Peak. The 1.4- kilometre line began operation in 1888 and was modernised in 1989. The line served an average of 9 000 passengers a day in 1998, mostly for recreational traffic. One-way fares for adults and children were $18 and $5 respectively.

Road Passenger Transport

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

Franchised Buses

The largest franchised bus operator is the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB). It runs 323 bus routes in Kowloon and the New Territories; 21 and 32 cross-harbour routes jointly with Citybus Limited (CTB) and New World First Bus Services Limited (NWFB), respectively; and 11 cross-harbour routes on its own. The KMB fleet comprised 3 991 registered vehicles as at the end of 1998, with 3 716 double-deck buses, and 275 single-deck buses, of which 1 840 and 275 were air- conditioned respectively. Of all the registered vehicles, 12 were 'super' low-floor single-deck buses and 85 were double-deck buses with provision for wheelchair passengers.

KMB carried 1.03 billion passenger trips and covered 329 million kilometres in 1998. Its existing franchise commenced on September 1, 1997 and will expire on July 31, 2007. Fares ranged from $1.20 to $23.60 for non-air-conditioned services, and from $2.70 to $38 for air-conditioned services. Children under 12 and passengers aged 65 or above were entitled to concessionary fares on every KMB local route.

To improve the network coverage for passengers and to make the most efficient use of resources, KMB implemented the bus-bus interchange scheme at Tai Lam Tunnel with effect from May 1998. The scheme attracted around 7 700 passengers per day to interchange at Tai Lam.

Bus services on Hong Kong Island underwent a major change in 1998. The franchised services provided by CMB ended on August 31, after 65 years of operation since 1933.