KMB eyes cost cuts as monopoly ends
Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) managing director John Chan Cho-chak says the franchised bus operator will have to rely on cost cutting and 12 new routes to Chek Lap Kok airport after its monopoly is terminated in September.
Mr Chan said KMB, which runs bus services in Kowloon and the New Territories, would strip out loss-making routes by rearranging its existing 400 bus routes.
He said the Government granted the company another 10-year franchise recently but the two parties were still debating details, including compensation for losing its monopoly and the scrapping of its profit control scheme.
'We will not lose a single line after the monopoly has gone,' he said. 'There is an understanding that the Government intends to leave new routes in New Territories open for tender while keeping our current routes intact.' Mr Chan would not say if the company would apply for a fare rise in the second half as a way to increase revenue.
KMB usually proposes a fare rise every April but has made no application this year.
'This is mostly for political reasons. Last year, Legco allowed us a 2.7 per cent rise, but we were proposing a 7.8 per cent rise,' he said.
'There is also a bill which will be tabled in Legco next week proposing restrictions on fare rises.'
