Discovery Bay residents are fighting to save their loss-making ferry service to Mui Wo.
Its operator wants the government to invite other bids to run the service before its licence comes up for renewal in August, saying low usage and soaring fuel costs mean it has lost HK$2 million since 2003.
Without the 20-minute service, passengers would face a roundabout bus journey via Tung Chung on Lantau's north coast that takes more than an hour.
Dozens of pupils use rush-hour sailings to get to and from school, but other weekday sailings carry few passengers. The route is only busy during weekends, says Wong Hon-kuen, director of Peng Chau Kaito Ltd, which operates the service.
'On weekdays when it's not rush hour, we only get about 10 passengers per trip on a ferry that can carry up to 130 people,' he said. 'And only very few people use it for work.'
During weekends, the ferries are packed with Discovery Bay residents like Sarah Corry, who enjoys the six-kilometre hill walk over to Mui Wo then takes the ferry home. She said residents chose to live on Lantau because they enjoy the outdoors, and said the service was important 'for the ease and convenience of inter-island travel' over the weekend.
Wong said his company had applied to the Transport Department to offer the franchise to interested operators before August 9 - when the licence is up for renewal.