LCQ20: Facilities at bus termini
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Question:
Some bus captains engaged by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) and franchised bus companies (bus companies) have relayed to me that the ancillary facilities (including facilities such as toilets and regulator kiosks) provided at bus termini have all along been inadequate. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the current number of bus termini, and a breakdown respectively by whether or not they are provided with (i) rest rooms, (ii) toilets and (iii) pantries for bus captains;
(2) as some bus captains have pointed out that since some bus termini do not have toilets provided by MTRCL/bus companies for their staff, they can only use the toilets in the shopping malls in the vicinity of the such bus termini, but after the closure of the shopping malls at night, they can only use the public toilets located farther away, which has caused inconvenience to them, whether the relevant government departments will urge MTRCL and various bus companies to provide toilets for bus captains at all bus termini and provide them assistance in this regard;
(3) as some bus captains have pointed out that most bus termini are not provided with all three facilities of rest rooms, toilets and pantries for bus captains, whether the authorities will request MTRCL and various bus companies to provide all such facilities at various bus termini; and
(4) as some bus captains have pointed out that the pantry services at various bus termini vary in quality, whether the authorities will request MTRCL and various bus companies to step up their monitoring of the standard of the pantry services?
Reply:
President,
The Transport Department (TD) has all along encouraged the bus companies, being good employers, to provide suitable toilets and rest facilities at bus termini for their staff. When relevant government departments and other stakeholders consider and vet the applications for setting up these staff facilities, TD has all along been providing appropriate coordination so as to facilitate early installation of such facilities. My reply to the question raised by the Hon Luk Chung-hung is as follows.
At present, toilets and rest facilities are generally part of the basic ancillary facilities when new bus termini are built. Of the existing 294 bus termini in Hong Kong (inclusive of those serving MTR buses), 250 (about 85 per cent) are provided with resting rooms for bus captains. As for toilets, they are either located at or within a walking distance of three minutes at 282 bus termini (about 96 per cent), while toilets are basically located within a walking distance of around four to seven minutes for the remaining bus termini. These toilets are available for use during the normal operating hours of bus services.
A small number of bus termini do not have rest facilities or toilets for bus captains mainly because of the physical constraints at individual sites (e.g. the bus terminus is located on a narrow sidewalk) or because of the views of the neighbourhood. The bus companies will continue to explore feasible solutions to overcome the physical constraints for setting up toilets at those bus termini which currently do not provide one within a walking distance of three minutes, as well as providing rest facilities for bus captains at bus termini which currently do not have such facilities.
The bus companies are aware of the staff concerns over the arrangement of using the toilets located around certain bus termini by bus captains on night shifts. At present, most of the toilets at or around individual bus termini are available for use by bus captains during the operating hours of routes served by the respective termini. The bus companies have adopted various measures to address the situations having regard to the practical circumstances of individual locations, such as discussing with the management of nearby shopping arcades for extending the opening hours of toilets or fine-tuning the duty rosters of bus captains as appropriate. TD will continue to facilitate the bus companies to actively cater for the needs of bus captains on night shifts, and endeavour to provide the necessary assistance to bus companies in this respect.
As regards staff canteens, only the Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (KMB) has provided such facilities at five bus termini for the convenience of its staff. According to KMB, it is arranging comprehensive renovation (including enhancement of air-conditioning systems and catering facilities) at these staff canteens, which are expected to be re-opened to serve frontline staff upon completion of the renovation works by mid-2017. KMB also advised that it would conduct site inspections in respect of the canteens' operation from time to time and follow up with the contractor on any matters concerning the quality of the food and service provided. Meanwhile, the bus companies have installed self-service facilities such as drinking water dispensers, microwave ovens, refrigerators and vending machines for use by staff at most of the bus termini and rest rooms.
The bus companies will continue to listen to the views from their staff, and take into account changes in the working environment of bus captains in making optimal use of the space at bus termini for providing various kinds of appropriate staff facilities.
Ends/Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Issued at HKT 14:30
Issued at HKT 14:30
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