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Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Ms Eva Cheng, at the Legislative Council meeting today (June 18):
Question:
It has been reported that certain route groupings under concessionary bus-bus interchange ("BBI") schemes implemented by franchised bus companies have very small or even zero daily patronage. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of various route groupings under the current concessionary BBI schemes, broken down by franchised bus companies and the districts served by the routes concerned, including the route numbers and fares, interchange arrangements, interchange fare discounts and the average daily number of passengers receiving the concession; and whether it knows if the various franchised bus companies have plans to introduce new concessionary route groupings in the coming 12 months; if they have such plans, of the details;
(b) whether the Transport Department ("TD") will assess the number of passengers who will benefit from the route groupings concerned when it examines the concessionary interchange route groupings proposed by franchised bus companies; if so, whether TD will approve those route groupings assessed to have relatively low patronage; if it will not make such an assessment, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it had, in the past five years, assessed the effectiveness of the concessionary BBI schemes in alleviating the burden of travelling expenses on the public; if so, of the assessment outcome; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
There are generally four objectives of providing concessionary bus-bus interchange ("BBI") schemes
(i) BBI schemes providing passengers with more choices, such as providing interchange fare concessions at large-scale infrastructures to facilitate passengers to travel to more destinations. These schemes are commonly implemented at toll plazas outside the entrances of tunnels and bridges, etc. where en-route stops of numerous bus routes are provided;
(ii) BBI schemes introduced for new areas or new towns. These schemes are implemented to reduce the need for introducing long-haul point-to-point bus routes;
(iii)BBI schemes provided to reduce traffic congestions in busy areas and improve the roadside air quality; and
(iv) BBI schemes introduced to provide alternatives to the bus services with low patronage when implementing bus route rationalization or enhancement.
(a) As at end May 2008, 228 concessionary BBI schemes have been implemented by various bus companies. Details broken down by their interchange locations are as follows:
-34 schemes in the New Territories West ("NTW") involving 95 routes. As at the end of 2007, the average daily patronage benefitted was about 70,000;
-40 schemes in the New Territories East ("NTE") involving 80 routes. As at the end of 2007, the average daily patronage benefitted was about 12,600;
-96 schemes on Hong Kong Island involving 117 routes and. As at the end of 2007, the average daily patronage benefitted was about 7,400;
-7 schemes on Lantau Island involving 15 routes. As at the end of 2007, the average daily patronage benefitted was about 3,700; and
-51 schemes in Kowloon involving 173 routes. As at the end of 2007, the average daily patronage benefitted was about 30,800.
The above BBI schemes involve a total of about 400 bus routes. Details such as the interchange locations, bus companies involved, route numbers and fare concessions are available at the website of the Transport Department ("TD"). Members who need to obtain further information of any particular schemes are welcome to contact TD.
The bus companies plan to introduce 15 new BBI schemes in the coming 12 months. These schemes involve routes serving various districts in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, NTW, NTE and Lantau Island. Nine of the 15 schemes are put forward to tie in with the proposed bus route rationalisation packages. TD is now consulting relevant District Councils on these proposed packages. The remaining six BBI schemes will be implemented in the next few months. These schemes, which involve 16 bus routes operating in 5 regions, are aimed at providing more choices for passengers.
(b) The Government welcomes the provision of fare concessions for passengers by the bus companies. As regards the concessionary BBI schemes, they could help reduce the need for introducing long-haul point-to-point bus routes and thus alleviate traffic congestion and air pollution on the one hand, and help reduce the travelling expenses of interchanging passengers on the other hand. Therefore, the Government has been encouraging the franchised bus companies to introduce more concessionary BBI schemes, having regard to their operating conditions and the economic situation. In assessing a BBI scheme put forward to tie in with a proposed bus route rationalization package, TD will take into account a number of factors, including suggestions from the public and whether the proposed BBI scheme can improve the coverage and operating efficiency of the bus network.
(c) Currently, a total of 228 concessionary BBI schemes are provided by the bus companies, involving about 400 bus routes and a daily patronage of about 120,000. In 2007, the total fare savings for passengers under these concessionary schemes exceeded $200 million. This indicates that such schemes are effective in helping bus passengers to reduce fare expenses.
Ends/Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:23
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