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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Hok-ming and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, at the Legislative Council meeting today (March 22) :
Question:
I have received complaints from members of the public that while the same day return fare discounts offered under the bus fare adjustment mechanism, which allows fares to go upward and downward, have been formally implemented since February 19 this year, the bus companies concerned need a longer lead time to modify the software of their Octopus systems, so as to ensure that the same system applies consistently across different bus companies, and hence will not implement the fare discounts on jointly operated cross-harbour routes until July this year. They consider that this arrangement is unfair to the bus passengers concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of jointly operated cross-harbour routes involved and the number of passengers affected;
(b) of the reasons for the bus companies concerned taking about five months to complete the above software modification work;
(c) whether it has assessed if it is technically feasible to advance the implementation of the fare discounts on jointly operated cross-harbour routes; if so, of the assessment results; if the results indicate that it is not feasible, the reasons for that; and
(d) whether the bus companies have considered providing the same amounts of discounts through other fare reduction initiatives to the passengers of jointly operated cross-harbour routes when the modification work is under way, so as to uphold the principle of fairness?
Reply:
Madam President,
Four franchised bus companies, viz. the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited, the Citybus Limited, the New World First Bus Services Limited and Long Win Bus Company Limited, pledged to implement a series of fare reduction initiatives including same day return reduction for medium and long distance routes upon the implementation of the new bus fare adjustment arrangement. As regards the fare reduction for medium and long distance routes, the four companies launched the initiatives on 74 solely operated routes with effect from February 19 this year.
The relevant initiatives will also be implemented on 24 jointly operated routes where the single fare is $10 or above and the number of passengers involved will be about 76 000 daily. However, since different bus companies are not using the same Octopus system at present, a longer lead time is necessary for system modification to ensure that a single system can be applied consistently across the jointly operated routes. Octopus system modification involves complex procedures including variance identification, new software development and compatibility works on different Octopus systems to ensure that other programmes in the system will not be affected by the modification. In addition, bus companies would need to download and test the software installed on buses in batches to avoid affecting the routine operation of bus services. This would also minimise errors that might cause inconvenience to passengers.
Since modification works involve quite a lot of procedures as mentioned above, the bus companies expect that modification of the Octopus systems will be completed in July this year and the initiatives could be launched on the jointly operated routes starting from July.
The Transport Department (TD) has discussed with the bus companies the possibility to provide same day return fare reduction to passengers using services of the same companies for both trips of the jointly operated routes. The bus companies, however, consider such arrangement would be prone to confusion on the implementation details and thus might lead to unnecessary misunderstanding among passengers. This was because under the proposal, only some but not all of the passengers travelling on the same bus route could enjoy the fare reduction and hence passengers would be confused. Moreover, the bus companies have already pledged to implement the initiatives for three years. Advancing the reduction offered for certain groups of passengers on the same route would further result in confusion from the administrative point of view and how the implementation period should be defined.
TD estimates that about 76 000 passengers on 24 jointly operated routes would benefit from the fare reduction initiatives daily. The department understands that passengers wish to enjoy the reduction as soon as possible, and hence has urged the bus companies to complete the Octopus systems modification as soon as possible for early implementation of the fare reduction. When the bus companies agreed to provide same day return fare reduction on the jointly operated routes, they already explained that the reduction would commence on July 1 this year. The implementation date of the relevant fare reduction was also set out in the Legislative Council Brief issued by Environment, Transport & Works Bureau on January 10 this year and no one raised objection then. In any case, the fare reduction initiatives for medium and long distance routes will remain effective for three years. The precise date of implementation, therefore, will not cause any unfairness among passengers travelling on the jointly operated routes.
Ends/Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:20
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