Air-conditioned buses have dual system

WE refer to the letter which appeared in the South China Morning Post, August 4, from Mr Frances Kong, regarding the service of our route Nos 81K, 82K and 86C buses.

The morning peak frequencies of route Nos 81K, 82K and 86C are 12 minutes, 18 minutes and 11 minutes respectively.

As of April 1, one double-deck bus was added to route No 86C and an additional double-deck bus will be deployed to this route in mid-1996 so as to further improve the service. A random check of the records of the said three routes in early August revealed that the service was normal, except on August 3, where a 20-minutes service gap was found due to sick leave of a bus captain of route No 82K.

We would like to assure our passengers that we will closely monitor the service of these routes and adjustments will be made whenever necessary to ensure a satisfactory service is provided. With regard to Mr Kong's comments on air-conditioned buses during winter, we wish to advise that the introduction of air-conditioned buses is designed to meet passengers' demands for a more comfortable bus service.

All of our air-conditioned buses are set at the temperature range of 18 degrees Celsius to 22 degrees, which is found to be suitable for most passengers and an air-conditioned system is needed to keep the air inside the compartment fresh, especially when the bus is full.

Also, most air-conditioned buses are now equipped with a dual cooling/heating system to adjust the compartment temperature to the changing weather conditions. Regarding Mr Kong's request to provide a half fare for students, at present, KMB offers free travel for children below the ages of four. Half fare is offered to children below the ages of 12 and to senior citizens over the ages of 65. To meet the Government's overall policy on travel subsidies for individual students, students between the ages 12 and 25 can apply for travel assistance from the Government through their schools.