ENG-2019 — Page 263

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Transport

Bus routes connecting the New Territories with North Lantau and the airport are run mainly by Long Win Bus Company. It was operating 36 routes at the year end with a licensed fleet of 279, all of which were wheelchair-accessible low-floor buses. The company recorded an average of 125,500 passenger trips a day in 2019.

The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) was operating 26 routes on Lantau Island and one route for Shenzhen Bay Port at the year end. It had a licensed fleet of 156 buses, of which 98 were wheelchair-accessible low-floor vehicles. There were 96,600 passenger trips on average daily

in 2019.

The government works with these bus operators to rationalise their services, so as to enhance network efficiency, improve service quality, alleviate traffic congestion and improve roadside air quality.

Non-franchised Buses

Non-franchised bus services play a supplementary role in the public transport system. They relieve heavy demand on regular public transport services primarily during peak hours, fill gaps which cannot be met by regular public transport and provide tailor-made services to specific groups of passengers. They serve mainly tourists, estate residents, employees and students. At the year end, there were 7,187 registered non-franchised public buses.

Public Light Buses

The number of public light buses (PLBs) has been capped at 4,350 since 1976. These vehicles handle 1.77 million passenger trips per day.

There are two types of PLBs - green minibuses (GMBs) and red minibuses (RMBs). GMBs provide scheduled services with fixed routes, fares, vehicle allocation and timetables as stipulated by the Transport Department. At the year end, 3,306 GMBS were operating 355 routes, recording a daily average of 1,482,500 passenger trips. RMBs are not required to operate on fixed routes or timetables and may set their own fares but have limited operating areas. There were 1,044 RMBs in operation at the year end, recording a daily average of 282,700 passenger trips.

Taxis

At the year end, there were 15,250 red urban taxis, 2,838 green New Territories taxis and 75 blue Lantau taxis. These carried about 854,100 passengers per day in 2019. There were about 780 taxi stands and designated taxi pick-up/drop-off points.

Private Cars

At the year end, there were 573,932 licensed private cars, of which 37,349 were new vehicles registered during 2019.

Road Transport Management

Effective transport management is essential for the safe and orderly operation of the transport system. Modern technology is used in a variety of ways to enhance transport management.

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