Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Nov 08, 2024

Allowing Hong Kong franchised bus firms’ fee rises ‘could create bottomless pit’

Allowing Hong Kong franchised bus firms’ fee rises ‘could create bottomless pit’

Proposals are unreasonable in current economic conditions, says engineering lawmaker, while bus operator blames competition from MTR’s new Tuen Ma line for reduction in passenger numbers.

Pressure is mounting on Hong Kong’s franchised bus operators over their proposed fare increases as government advisers and lawmakers warned of a “bottomless pit” ahead if authorities granted such requests.

Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, the convenor of the Executive Council, the city’s top advisory body, led the chorus after she earlier said the authorities should not approve substantial bus fare increases. She suggested the companies work harder for a year or two before applying.

“The government already has several transport subsidy schemes … for every resident who spends more than HK$200 (US$25) on public transport each month,” she wrote in a commentary first published on Saturday.

“That means the higher the bus fares, the more the government will need to subsidise. It is a bottomless pit of government subsidies.”

Regina Ip, convenor of the Executive Council.


Five bus companies in the city last week requested permission to raise their fares for their six franchises, with Citybus hoping for a 50 per cent increase on its airport routes.

KMB, the largest fleet in Hong Kong, also asked for a 9.8 per cent rise and highlighted increased competition from MTR Corporation’s expanding railway network, especially the full opening of the Tuen Ma line in 2021, which connects the New Territories East and West.

Engineering sector lawmaker Lo Wai-kwok, of the Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong, on Monday said the suggested increments were unreasonable in the present conditions and added that bus companies should wait until the city’s economy returned to normal.

Legislator Gary Zhang Xinyu, of the New Prospect for Hong Kong political party, said the reasons behind the increases were opaque, while the situation of lost trips had not improved after more than a decade.

Hong Kong last year saw a lost trip rate of 2.4 per cent, while the figure 10 years ago was 2.6 per cent.

Although Ip admitted residents’ reduced reliance on buses had hit companies’ operations, she said the proposed increases were so high that they would “drive the government and residents mad”.

All five franchised bus companies in Hong Kong have applied to increase their fares.


Ronny Tong Ka-wah, a fellow Exco member, said he hoped the city could balance the bus companies’ survival with the public interest.

Tong, however, stressed he would need to go through the available data before making a decision.

“If the bus companies couldn’t make any profit and go belly up, it will be the residents who suffer. If they had to cut routes to make ends meet, it will also be bad for the residents,” he said.

Another Exco member, who asked not to be named, echoed Tong’s remarks and said it would be considered unfair to ask the bus companies to survive on their own.

“It will affect a lot of people. Bus companies hire a lot of staff, and members of the public also need their services. They are not charities,” the councillor said.

The councillor also advised authorities to make sure the transport operators had exhausted all other means of raising revenue aside from fares, such as advertisements.

The Post has contacted the city’s franchised bus companies for further comment, with some declining to reply.

The Transport and Logistics Bureau last week told lawmakers the government would consider several factors before approving the increases, including introducing a fare adjustment mechanism for franchised bus companies.

The mechanism, which the MTR Corp adopted in 2009, allows the railway operator to set its fare using a fixed formula without going through the Legislative Council or the Executive Council every year.

But the same system is not applied to bus companies. With continuous inflation recorded in recent years, the present process has received much public criticism about its inability to reflect the economic situation.

Ip emphasised bus companies did not need to rush to increase their fares and should instead wait for one to two years for the economy to recover.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×