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Following is a question by the Hon Howard Young and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (December 21) :
Question :
Regarding the deployment by franchised bus companies of low-floor buses to provide service, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the current number of low-floor buses in the fleet of each franchised bus company, the routes and districts to which these buses are mainly deployed, their frequencies expressed as a percentage of the total frequencies of the relevant routes, and the number of low-floor buses planned to be purchased in the coming five years by each company;
(b) whether the franchised bus companies have looked into the passenger demand on different routes for low-floor bus services; if not, of the respective criteria adopted by the companies for deciding on the deployment of low-floor buses to individual routes; and
(c) of the channels through which passengers in need, such as wheelchair users and mobility-handicapped persons, learn whether there are low-floor buses serving a particular bus route and about their schedules?
Reply :
Madam President,
As at October 31, 2005, the numbers of wheelchair accessible low floor buses, the number of routes deployed with these buses operated by the six franchised bus companies and the estimated percentage of trips operated with low floor buses as a proportion to the total number of trips of these routes are attached in the Annex.
Franchised bus companies deploy wheelchair accessible low floor buses on routes across various parts of Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories to serve passengers in need. In 2001, all franchised bus companies except NLB agreed to choose wheelchair accessible models when making future purchase for new buses. The number of new buses required by different bus companies varies depending on the age of their existing fleet and changes in service demand.
According to the current Route Development Programmes of the bus operators, a total of 885 wheelchair accessible buses will be purchased in the coming five years. Their distribution is as follows:
Bus Operators Number of new buses to be
purchased in the coming
five years
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KMB 730
Citybus (Franchise 1) 72
Citybus (Franchise 2) 11
NWFB 20
Long Win 22
Due to topographical constraints, wheelchair accessible low floor buses are not suitable for most of the routes operated by NLB. Nevertheless, the company has planned to purchase such buses to operate on suitable routes where terrain permits.
When determining the deployment of low floor buses on different routes, bus operators will take into account the views gathered through various channels. For example, they participate in the Working Group on Access to Public Transport by the Disabled organized by the Transport Department (TD) and discuss with organizations representing people with disabilities during regular meetings on the arrangements and priorities concerning the deployment of low floor buses for individual routes.
In addition, bus operators gauge opinions through the local community, passenger liaison groups, customer service hotlines and their websites so as to understand the demand of the community and people with disabilities for wheelchair accessible low floor buses.
TD and franchised bus companies provide information to organizations representing people with disabilities, setting out the list of routes operated with low floor buses and the number of these buses in order to facilitate them to plan their journeys. Passengers who require low floor bus service may browse the bus companies' websites or call their hotlines for the latest information.
Ends/Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Issued at HKT 14:46
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