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Following is a question by the Hon Frankie Yick and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, in the Legislative Council today (May 15):
Question:
Some operators of public light buses (PLBs) (red minibuses (RMBs) and green minibuses (GMBs)) have reportedly said that the shortage of PLB drivers is very serious. For example, the vacancies of GMB drivers account for 25% of the total number of positions, resulting in a situation of "some PLBs being left idle as no drivers are available". One operator has even said that if the situation does not improve, at least 10 routes will have to be cancelled this year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of holders of valid PLB driving licences in the past three years, broken down by the age groups in Annex 1;
(b) of the number of PLB driving licence holders who had not applied for licence renewal upon expiry of their licences in the past three years, and whether it knows the reasons why they had not renewed their licences;
(c) of the number of PLB drivers in the past three years, broken down by the age groups and employment term in Annex 2;
(d) given that the Transport Department had enquired with the GMB operators across the territory at the end of last year about the shortage of drivers, of the findings of its enquiries and the current shortfall of GMB drivers; whether the Government will enquire with RMB operators about the shortage of drivers; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(e) whether it knows the number and percentage of people taking up employment as PLB drivers among those who newly obtained their PLB driving licences in the past three years, and the reasons why some people had not been employed as such; if no such information is available, whether the Government will conduct a survey on this;
(f) regarding the shortage of PLB drivers, what short, medium and long-term corresponding measures the authorities have put in place to attract more people to join the trade and support the long-term development of the trade, and of the details of such measures (including the implementation timetable and expected outcomes); and
(g) given that Singapore has reportedly imported a specific quota of foreign labour to solve the problem of shortage of bus drivers, whether the authorities will consider making reference to the practice of Singapore and importing foreign labour to solve the problem of shortage of PLB drivers; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
At present, there are 3,084 green minibuses (GMBs) and 1,266 red minibuses (RMBs) in Hong Kong. A holder of a valid public light bus (PLB) full driving licence is eligible to become a driver for a GMB or a RMB. As at end of 2012, there were around 180,000 holders of a valid PLB full driving licence. This number far exceeds the number of drivers required to operate both types of PLBs under a two-shift arrangement per day.
(a) The number of valid PLB full driving licence holders as at end of 2012 by age groups is set out in Annex 3.
The number of valid PLB full driving licence holders as at end of 2010 and end of 2011 was 173,117 and 176,215 respectively. As it takes time to check the records, the Transport Department (TD) cannot provide a breakdown by age groups for the time being.
(b) Under Regulation 15(6) of the Road Traffic (Driving Licences) Regulations (Cap. 374B), a Hong Kong full driving licence can only be renewed during the period from four months before the date of its expiry to not exceeding three years after that date.
The number of PLB full driving licences which have expired over three years as at end of 2010, end of 2011 and end of 2012 is as follows:
Year Number of licences which have expired
over three years
---- -------------------------------------
2010 39,167
2011 44,117
2012 47,876
Since driving licence holders are not required to inform TD of the reasons for not renewing their licences, TD does not have the relevant information.
(c) and (d) In view that some GMB representatives reflected that there was a shortage of drivers for certain routes, TD made an enquiry with all GMB operators in Hong Kong late last year. It was learnt that some GMB routes occasionally failed to operate fully in accordance with the frequency specified in the schedule of service because of manpower issues. Based on the data collected from the operators, there were about 1,300 full-time GMB driver vacancies as at end of 2012. The breakdown of serving GMB drivers by age groups and employment term is set out in Annex 4.
Yet, according to TD's latest understanding, the operators have addressed the manpower issues by employing part-time and full-time drivers, flexibly redeploying existing manpower and adjusting drivers' salary, etc. The situation has since improved and the number of full-time GMB driver vacancies has reduced to about 660.
TD does not have any information on the age profile and employment term of GMB drivers for 2011 and 2010.
As for RMB drivers, they are basically self-employed and are providing RMB service through rental of vehicles. Given its flexibility in adjusting service routes, frequencies and fares, RMB service could be adjusted any time according to the market situation and other factors. TD does not collect information on the age profile of RMB drivers.
(e) The number of persons issued with valid PLB full driving licences from 2010 to 2012 is as follows:
Year Number of persons
---- -----------------
2010 2,815
2011 2,794
2012 3,387
TD has not surveyed whether or not the holders of a valid PLB full driving licence (i.e. the 180,000 or so licence holders mentioned in part (a) above) are engaged in the PLB trade and the reasons behind.
(f) and (g) As mentioned above, there are at present 4,350 registered PLBs while the number of valid PLB full driving licence holders comes to around 180,000. This shows that the number of holders of the relevant driving licence should be sufficient to meet the manpower demand in the market.
To help the GMB trade recruit drivers, TD has contacted the Labour Department (LD) and liaised with GMB operators to participate in LD's job fairs. The first job fair with the participation of GMB operators is expected to be held in June 2013. Furthermore, GMB operators who need to recruit drivers can use LD's other free service. For example, they can recruit drivers to fill the vacancies with the help of the Job Vacancy Processing Centre.
Besides, as mentioned above, some GMB operators have adjusted the salary of drivers to retain the incumbent and attract new blood to join the GMB trade. According to TD's understanding, GMB driver shortage has improved subsequent to the introduction of the relevant measures. TD will continue to monitor closely the manpower situation of GMB drivers. If the operators apply for fare increase on the ground of increased operating cost (including salary cost), TD will consider such applications on a case-by-case basis.
Ends/Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:48
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