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Following is a question by the Hon Martin Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (May 7):
Question:
Regarding franchised bus services in Hong Kong, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of new and old buses proposed by various franchised bus companies to be purchased and disposed of respectively under the Forward Planning Programmes, which were submitted to the Commissioner for Transport in the past three years, together with a breakdown of such numbers by year and by franchised bus company, and whether the Government has any policy to limit the total number of franchised buses as well as the numbers of old buses being replaced by new buses and disposed of respectively every year; if it has, of the details and the objectives of adopting such a policy; and
(b) whether currently there is any policy to limit the number of franchised buses operating in some of the districts with heavy traffic (including Yau Tsim Mong District, Central and Western District, Wan Chai District and Eastern District); if so, of the number of franchised buses permitted to operate in each of these districts?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The numbers of buses to be purchased by franchised bus companies as approved by the Transport Department (TD) under the Forward Planning Programmes (FPPs) and the number of old buses reduced in these companies for the past three years are at the Annex.
The Government has not set limits on the total number of franchised buses as well as the numbers of buses being replaced by new buses and old buses to be scrapped respectively every year. Franchised bus companies are required to submit annually to TD their FPPs for the next five years, which include proposed programmes for retiring old buses and purchasing new ones. Upon receipt of such proposals, TD will discuss with these companies to determine the numbers of buses to be purchased and retired yearly, taking into account factors such as passenger demand as well as improvements to roadside air quality, bus safety and the public transport network, etc.
(b) In order to regulate as appropriate the vehicular flow in busy districts, the TD will refrain as far as possible from approving the operation of new bus routes plying through such districts. For instance, TD would arrange new bus routes to operate via non busy districts or introduce new shuttle bus routes by which bus passengers can interchange with the existing bus services to and from the busy districts. In case of genuine need for increasing the number or frequency of route operating in busy districts, bus companies will have to make corresponding reduction in the frequency of other existing routes passing through such districts where possible.
Meanwhile, TD has been working with bus companies in studying and promoting the rationalisation of bus service network through measures including cancellation, merging and truncation of bus routes and adjustments in bus frequency with a view to reducing the frequency of bus services on roads, particularly the busy corridors. Under this strategy, the number of daily bus trips running in busy districts such as Central, Wan Chai and Yau Tsim Mong has been reduced by about 3,300 in the period from 2003 to 2007.
Ends/Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:41
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