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Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (October 15):
Question:
The 2014 Policy Address proposes that the Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (the Scheme) be extended in phases to include green minibuses (GMBs) starting from the first quarter of next year. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of GMB routes currently serving on Hong Kong Island, in Kowloon and the New Territories, as well as across districts the operators of which have applied for joining the Scheme, together with a breakdown by the aforesaid categories of the respective numbers of those routes the applications of which have been approved, are pending approval and have been rejected;
(2) when it will announce the GMB routes that have been included in the Scheme and the details; of the expected number of GMB routes which will be able to commence the fare concessions in the first quarter of next year; and
(3) whether it will, when granting operating rights to GMBs in future, consider imposing conditions to require operators to join the Scheme and comply with the relevant technical, operational, accounting and auditing arrangements, with a view to eventually extending the Scheme to cover all the GMB routes?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the question raised by the Hon Wu Chi-wai is as follows:
(1) and (2) We have launched the Public Transport Fare Concession Scheme for the Elderly and Eligible Persons with Disabilities (the Scheme) on general MTR lines, franchised buses and ferries in phases. Elderly people aged 65 or above and eligible persons with disabilities are able to travel on most routes of the above public transport services at a concessionary fare of $2 per trip. We are now also working to extend the Scheme to green minibuses (GMBs) in phases starting from the first quarter of 2015 subject to the funding approval of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council.
Up to now, the Transport Department (TD) has issued a total of 155 GMB passenger service licences, with 28, 50 and 77 providing GMB services on Hong Kong Island, and in Kowloon and the New Territories respectively, and 20 of them provide cross-region services. While the majority of GMB operators have expressed interest in joining the Scheme, the remaining ones have not indicated their intention at this stage because they want to further understand the actual operational details of the Scheme. TD will continue to liaise with and encourage them to join the Scheme.
There are at present a considerable number of GMB operators. Many of them are small in business scale with different modes of operation, financial positions and accounting arrangements. TD is actively pursuing with GMB operators and the Octopus Cards Limited to help the operators resolve the technical, operational, accounting and auditing issues. Subject to the preparedness of the GMB operators and the Octopus Cards Limited on the above matters, TD will devise the detailed implementation arrangements for the Scheme.
(3) Existing GMB operators may participate in the Scheme voluntarily. TD will enter into a contract with each participating operator to stipulate the specific arrangements. Since June 2014, when inviting applications for operation of GMB route packages, TD has incorporated conditions to require operators to implement the Scheme upon the introduction of service.
Ends/Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Issued at HKT 12:07
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