Most bus passengers to pay 2pc more after Exco backs rises
More than 3.35 million bus commuters - 85 per cent of the average daily total - will pay from 10 HK cents to HK$3 more a trip from June 8.
This follows Executive Council approval yesterday of fare rises ranging from 2 per cent to 7.24 per cent for five bus operators - Kowloon Motor Bus, Long Win Bus, New Lantao Bus, New World First Bus and Citybus on its island and cross-harbour routes.
The government said it meant an extra 40 cents or less for 83 per cent of the 2.7 million passengers who use KMB every day and 92 per cent of the 470,000 passengers travelling on New World First Bus.
But it rejected an application by Citybus for an increase on its 18 routes between Chek Lap Kok and urban areas, saying the routes had seen a 28.5 per cent rise in revenue over the past seven years.
Tourists, local holidaymakers and overnight bus commuters stand to shoulder most of the rise because bus operators were allowed to adjust rates on individual routes, providing the overall increases did not exceed the approved rate.
Fares on the so-called recreational lines, such as those between tourist attractions and urban areas, saw the highest increase.
A New Lantao Bus route running between the Ngong Ping 360 cable car and Hung Hom was allowed to increase the fare from HK$40 to HK$43.
Twenty KMB routes serving lower income districts, including Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and Tsueng Kwan O, were spared a rise, as were 64 Citybus routes on Hong Kong Island, but that was at the expense of their cross-harbour passengers, who will bear an increase averaging about 4 per cent.
A government source said the fare rises were expected to push the composite consumer price index up by 0.08 per cent for the second half of the year.
Secretary for Transport and Housing Eva Cheng said the outcome was a balance of the companies' financial performances and what the public could afford.
She stressed that the increases were lower than what the bus firms had sought, except for New Lantao Bus, which had operational difficulties.
Most of the rises were also lower than that calculated by the fare adjustment formula - an average of 4.67 per cent for the five operators after taking into account the latest composite consumer price index.
Some lawmakers said some of the increases were still too high, but a government source said it was necessary to maintain an attractive rate of return of 9.7 per cent for the bus companies.
'Why should they continue to manage the public transport business when they could earn more investing their capital elsewhere?' the source said.
Some passengers considered the rise fair, but KMB and New World First Bus, which controls Citybus, said the rises were not nearly enough to cover their rising fuel costs.
A New World spokeswoman said the company would have talks with the government over measures to help ease the fuel burden or it would not be able to maintain existing service quality.
But the government source said the company had underestimated its projected patronage.
