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In response to media enquiries today (July 27) on the fatal traffic accident involving Green Minibus (GMB) Route No. 44A on July 25, a spokesman for the Transport Department (TD) made the following statement:
GMB operators should operate GMB services in accordance with their passenger service licences issued under the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374). They should provide service according to the routeing, timetable, fare table and vehicle allocation as stated in the Schedule of Service. Operators are not allowed to adjust their service without the approval of the TD.
According to the approved Schedule of Service of the New Territories GMB Route No. 44A (Tuen Mun Station Public Transport Interchange - Sheung Shui Station), the operating hours are from 6am to 11pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. If the operator adjusts the operating hours without TD's approval, the TD will conduct investigation and impose penalty according to established mechanism. At present, Section 30 of the Road Traffic Ordinance allows the Commissioner for Transport to appoint a public officer to conduct an inquiry on any vehicle being used for unauthorised service. If the Commissioner deems necessary to take action against the concerned licencee after the inquiry, the Commissioner can suspend, cancel or vary the passenger service licence as stipulated by the Road Traffic Ordinance Section 31.
The TD has all along been closely monitoring the operation of the GMB Route No. 44A service. In the past year, the TD conducted 10 investigations which mainly checked against the standard of service and the operation of GMB Route No. 44A within the authorised operating hours. However, the TD did not receive any complaints about the operating hours of this route during the past year. If the operator would like to adjust the service of Route No. 44A including the operating hours, the TD will consider its reasons of adjustment and amend the Schedule of Service appropriately.
Regarding the allegation against Route No. 44A, the TD has launched an investigation.
Moreover, the TD and GMB operators have already developed a guideline on the working hours of GMB drivers which is accepted by the operators. GMB operators should follow the guideline when arranging the working hours of their drivers to ensure driving safety.
To raise the sense of driving safety for public light bus (PLB) drivers, the TD has in the past few years been organising various types of courses and seminars, such as "Advanced PLB Driver Training Course" and "PLB Safety Workshop" etc., for participation of PLB drivers. The TD has also planned to organise a PLB safety campaign in 2009. The TD hopes to raise the awareness and alertness of PLB drivers, through publicity, to drive carefully and maintain safe driving speed and distance to ensure the safety of themselves and other road users.
The PLB trade, in principle, has expressed support for the introduction of mandatory pre-service training for new PLB drivers. Having completed an initial study, the TD will consult the trade again before submitting to the Legislative Council for consideration.
To address the public concern about the speed of PLB, the TD and vehicle manufacturers have studied the feasibility of installing vehicle monitoring system in minibuses. The technical aspect for installing speed limiter on PLB is, in principle, feasible, and it will undergo testing shortly.
Meanwhile, the TD will liaise with vehicle manufacturer to require the new PLBs to be installed with "black box". However, as in the case of franchised bus, "black box" can only be used to record driving information and data as a means for fleet management, but it cannot be used as court evidence.
The TD will consult the trade on the two items of speed limiter and "black box" in the next regular meeting, and conduct studies with vehicle suppliers after collecting the trade's views. The TD hopes to introduce speed limiter in phases by the end of this year.
Ends/Monday, July 27, 2009
Issued at HKT 20:44
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