THIRTEEN of China Motor Bus' 130 routes attracted almost half of the complaints made against the firm last year, and routes where service is worst could be cut if CMB's franchise is renewed this summer.
It is understood the Government feels it is justified in making cuts and attention is focused on the poorest performers on the north side of Hong Kong Island.
The Transport Complaints Unit logged 412 complaints against the 13 routes last year, compared with 880 for CMB's whole network.
Figures show routes from Ap Lei Chau to Central had a particularly bad year, attracting scores of complaints.
But a Transport Department official said the Ap Lei Chau problem had been overcome. Regina Yeung Sau-ting, senior transport officer in Southern District, said it was unlikely there would be such a high number of complaints again.
'Phase three of South Horizons started in May and June last year and CMB was not able to have enough air-conditioned buses transferred to route 590,' she said.
At the time, CMB had arranged extra non-air-conditioned buses but the new residents preferred to wait, so that they could catch air-conditioned buses in the summer, which led to complaints because they had to wait longer, Ms Yeung said.
