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Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (May 7):
Question:
The operation of the ferry route between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui was relocated from the old Central Star Ferry Pier to Central Pier No. 7 in November 2006. The operator of this ferry route, the "Star" Ferry Company Limited, has indicated on many occasions that a drop in the number of passengers, due to the more remote location of the new pier, has put it under pressure to increase fares for this route. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the number of passengers and amount of fare income of the ferry route since the pier relocation, and how the figures compare with those before the pier relocation; how the relative ratio of ferry passengers boarding the upper deck and lower deck respectively has changed since the opening of the elevated walkway linking the new pier and the General Post Office, and of the impact of the change on the income;
(b) whether it will adopt the following measures to increase the number of passengers for the ferry route: in the short term, building more public transport routes passing the new pier and making optimal use of the areas around the pier, and in the long term, building additional link roads and installing more travelators connecting areas at some distance from the waterfront in the new Central Harbourfront, so as to attract and facilitate the use of ferry services by the public, alleviate the pressure on the existing road harbour crossings, and save this ferry service, which has tourism and conservation value, from being eventually phased out by the more convenient road transport modes; and
(c) of the criteria it will adopt for assessing and approving the fare increase application for the ferry route, and whether it will consult this Council before making a final decision in this regard?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The operation of the franchised ferry service plying between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui (TST) (the Route) operated by the "Star" Ferry Company, Limited (Star Ferry) was relocated to Central Pier No. 7 (Pier No. 7) in November 2006. According to Star Ferry's figures, the patronage of the Route has decreased by about 18% since the pier relocation, with a drop in the fare revenue as well.
Before the pier relocation, the patronage boarding the upper and the lower decks accounted for about 55% and 45% of the total patronage respectively. Immediately following the relocation, about 60% of the total patronage boarded the lower deck. However, following the opening of the Man Yiu Street footbridge, which connects the upper deck of Pier No. 7, in June 2007, the patronage ratio between the upper and the lower decks has almost returned to the pre-relocation level (i.e. 52% and 48% respectively). Despite slight increase in the fare revenue of the Route consequently, its total patronage has remained stable and Star Ferry's record shows that the route is still operating at a loss.
(b) To improve the operating conditions of ferry services, the Government has all along been allowing ferry operators to generate non-fare box revenue by publishing advertisements as well as sub-letting premises at piers for commercial and retail activities to cross-subsidise ferry operation. At present, Star Ferry has already sub-let most of the shop area at Pier No. 7 for commercial and retail uses.
As regards transport coordination, a total of 25 bus routes and 7 green minibus routes are currently plying through the Central Piers area to provide ferry passengers with feeder services to different districts. Among these, the Transport Department ("TD") deliberately relocated the terminus of three bus routes (i.e. route nos. 15*, 15C and 629) to the bus stop outside the Central Piers and added en-route stops of four bus routes (i.e. route nos. 2, 12, 511 and M722) there, when the Pier No.7 was opened for use, to facilitate Star Ferry's passengers to take bus services to areas such as Admiralty, Wanchai and the Peak. Furthermore, there are taxi stands and pick up / drop off facilities for general vehicles outside the Central Piers.
As regards building more pedestrian linking facilities at the Central harbourfront, the Administration completed the construction of the Man Yiu Street Footbridge in June 2007 for public access to Pier No.7. In the long run, three 5-metre wide at-grade pedestrian crossings will be constructed along Road P2 (i.e. in the vicinity of the General Post Office, City Hall and Central Barracks) together with the Central Reclamation Phase III and expected for completion in end 2009. The Planning Department will also study the provision of a multi-level pedestrian network with new at-grade crossings, elevated footbridges, landscaped decks and underground connection, etc. under the Urban Design Study for the New Central Harbourfront which is currently in progress. Some of the facilities will connect with piers along the Central harbourfront to facilitate pedestrians' use of the ferry services at the piers.
(*Bus route no.15 plies between the Central Piers / Exchange Square and the Peak. The route terminates at the Exchange Square before 10am and at the Central Piers after 10am daily.)
(c) TD has received from the Star Ferry fare adjustment application for its two franchised ferry services (TSTˇVCentral and TSTˇVWanchai). In processing fare increase applications for all ferry services, the Government will carefully consider all relevant factors including the financial situation of the ferry operator, its forecast on operating costs, its past service performance, public acceptability of the proposed fare increase, as well as any other revenue-generating and cost-saving measures taken by the ferry operator. The Government will consult the Transport Advisory Committee and the Legislative Council Panel on Transport on the fare increase application from the Star Ferry for its franchised services before submitting the application to the Chief Executive in Council for decision.
Ends/Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:32
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